LITERATURE 


OF 


THE  CHEROKEES 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  AND  THE  STORY  OF  THEIR 

GENESIS. 


BY  GEORGE  E.  FOSTER, 

AUTHOR  OF  "9EOJJOYAH,    THE  AMERICAN  CADMUS"- 


ITHACA,  N.  Y. 
OFFICE    OF  THE  DEMOCRAT  ; 


SOLD  BY  G.  E.  LITTLEFIELD,  BOSTON. 
1889. 


COPYRIGHT,  1889, 

BY  GEORGE  E.  FOSTER,  ITHACA,  N.   Y. 


CONTENTS. 


FOLK    LORE 2 

NOMENCLATURE 4 

SPANISH  INFLUENCES  .^ 6 

THE  LAW 8 

PARCHMENT 9 

THE    BOOK.    9 

PRAYERS 10 

SYMBOLS 12 

MORAVIAN  INFLUENCES 12 

ORATORY 14 

NUMERALS 15 

VISIONS 17 

SONGS 17 

ANNALS  OF  VICTORY 18 

BOON'S  RECORD 19 

THE  CHALLENGE 19 

Fi RST  CHEROKEE  HYMN 20 

INFLUENCES  OF  THEA.B.C.F.M 23 

PICKERING  ALPHABET 25 

SCOTCH  ELEMENT   26 

WHITE     ELEMENT 26 


M134689 


2  CONTENTS. 

BAPTIST  INFLUENCES 30 

NATIVE  ADAPTABILITY  32 

SEQUOYAHN   ERA 34 

GOVERNMENT  GROWTH 34 

BIRTH  OF  JOURNALISM 38 

VINITA    JOURNALISM 64 

UNION  PRESS 65 

BAPTIST  MISSION  PRESS . 66 

PARK  HILL  PRESS 67 

DWIGHT  MISSON    PRE.'S 68 

TERRITORY  PRESS. 
BIBLIOGRAPHY. 
THE  GENESIS. 


LITERATURE 

OF 

THE    CHEROKEES. 


Brinton,  in  his  book  entitled  "  Aborigi 
nal  Authors,"  remarks:  — 

"When  even  a  quite  intelligent  person 
hears  about  'Aboriginal  American  Lit 
erature,'  he  is  very  excusable  for  asking  : 
What  is  meant  by  the  term?  Where  is 
the  literature?  In  fine  is  there  any  such 
thing?" 

The  announcement  that  a  Bibliogra 
phy  of  the  Cherokees  would  .be  published 
by  the  writer  caused  expressions  of  as 
tonishment  that  such  a  work  could  be 
compiled  at  all.  "A  Bibliography,"  says 
Brande,  is  a  knowledge  of  books  in  re 
gard  to  their  authors,  subjects,  editions, 
and  history."  On  this  ground  it  is  safe 


2  LITERATURE. 

to  ascribe  to  the  Cherokees  a  greater  bib 
liography  than  to  any  other  Aborigines 
tribe. 

§    I.   FOLK    LORE. 

Brinton  finds  a  strong  literary  faculty 
in  the  Native  mind,  indicated  by  a  vivid 
imagination,  a  love  of  narration,  and  an 
ample,  appropriate  and  logically  devel 
oped  vocabulary. 

All  the  above  applies  to  the  Chero 
kees,  but  the  folk  lore  of  their  tribe,  has 
not  been  preserved;  only  now  and 
then  do  we  find  a  recorded  tradition. 
They  have  but  few  * 'tales  of  talking 
animals,  mythical  giants,  dwarfs,  subtle 
women,  potent  magicians.."  That  they 
had  such  lore  is  proved  by  the  "Buttrick 
Collections."  That  the  traditions  were 
lost  \vas  owing  to  the  early  doing  away 
of  the  custom  of  collecting  on  feast  day 
around  the  "old  man,"  who  recited  the 
traditions  of  the  past.  Neither  was  this 
race  so  fortunate,  like  the  Chippewas,  as 
to  have  a  man  of  Schoolcraft's  genius 


LITERATURE.  3 

intermarry  with  and  thus  preserve  the 
legends  and  traditions  of  their  people. 
But  they  were  doubly  fortunate  ;  there 
was  raised  up  for  them  a  man,  who  be 
came  the  "Father  of  Learning,"  to  his 
people.  This  was  SE-QUO-YAH,  who 
himself  unlearned  gave  them  an  alphabet. 
Before  this  they  had  the  unwritten  litera 
ture  ;  they  had  a  historic  literature  as  is 
seen  in  the  "Buttrick  Collections  ;"  these 
maybe  styled  also  religious-;  they  had  an 
unwritten  code  of  Laws  for  years  fully 
understood,  for  it  was  carefully  handed 
down  by  word  of  mouth  from  generation 
to  generation,  and  was  first  written  out 
in  Roman  character  in  1820  to  be  printed 
soon  after  in  letters  of  their  own  inven 
tion.  They  had  also  a  dramatic  litera 
ture.  Brinton  cites  under  the  head  of 
4 'Dramatic  Literature,"  an  instance.  "A 
pantomime  where  the  actors  appeared  in 
.  costume  was  seen  by  Lieutenant  Timber- 
lake  among  the  Cherokees  in  the  middle 
of  the  last  century,  which  he  spoke  of 
as  'very  diverting,'  where  some  of  the 


4  LITERATURE. 

actors  dressed  in  the  skins  of  wild  ani 
mals,  and  the  simulated  contest  between 
the  pretended  beasts  and  the  men  who 
hunted  them  being  the  motives  of  the  con 
test."* 

We  cite  a  later  instance  :  when  John 
Ridge,  Elias  Boudinot  and  other  Chero 
kee  youth  hereafter  mentioned,  attended 
the  Mission  School  at  Cornwall,  Conn., 
they  arranged  a  drama,  and  it  was  acted 
in  the  school  and  called  a  "Cherokee 
Council  of  War." 

§    2.      NOMENCLATURE. 

Why  is  it  that  members  of  the  Aborig 
ines  tribes  have  English  Names?  The 
answer  is  a  simple  one.  It  was  the  cus 
tom,  when  Mission  schools  were  estab 
lished  to  give  to  the  children,  who  atten 
ded,  an  English  name.  Hence  it  is  that 
so  many  English  names  are  perpetuated 
among  the  Cherokees.  The  Boudinot 
family,  now  so  well  known  in  the  Chero 
kee  Nation,  is  a  good  example.  A 

*The    Memoirs    of    Lieutenant    H.    Timberlake. 
London,  1765 . 


LITERATURE.  5 

bright  Indian  called  Waite,  who  went 
to  the  Mission  School,  was  named  for 
that  famous  mission ary  Elias  Boudinot. 
The  name  is  still  worthily  perpetuated. 
It  was  the  custom,  also,  to  baptize  even 
adult  Indians  with  English  instead  of 
their  native  names.  Frequent  instances 
are  cited  in  Mission  reports.  Hence  Eng 
lish  names  are  found  most  frequently  in 
civilized  tribes,  and  by  these  changes  often 
unrecorded,  the  geneology  of  many  Indian 
families  has  been  lost.  Cherokee  names 
formerly  contained  in  them  some  neat  bit 
of  history  or  biography.  The  translated 
names — "He-who-walks-on-the— mountain- 
top/'  "Nettle  Carrier,"  "The  Bark,"  "Big 
Cabin,"  "Dick  Justice,'  '"The  Glass,"  "Go 
ing  Snake,"  "Path  Killer,"  "Sour  Mush," 
"Big  Bear,"  and  "The  Raven,"  *  carry 
their  own  appropriate  stories  of  posses 
sion,  characteristic  or  achievement. 

*';The  Raven"  is  one  of  the  Cherokee  favourite 
war  names.  Carolina  and  Georgia  remember  Quo- 
rinnah,  the  Raven  of  Huwhase-town.  He  was  one 
of  the  most  daring  warriors  of  the  whole  nation, 
and  by  far  the  most  intelligent,  and  this  name  or 
war  appelacive  admirably  suited  his  well-known 


6  LITERATURE. 

"The  names  of  animals  were  imitations 
of  the  sounds  they  produced;  the  names 
of  trees  signified  the  sound  they  appeared 
to  make;  thus  making  the  name  a  descrip 
tion  of  the  thing, — according  to  what  is 
believed  to  be  the  primitive  origin  of 
names.  Certain  Indian  names  of  bodies 
of  water  are  very  beautiful, — for  instance, 
the  familiar  name  Min-ne-ha-ha,  meaning 
'laughing  water/  as  the  Poet  Longfellow 
has  correctly  rendered  it.  Ath-a-bas-ca 
is  rendered  the 'meeting  of  many  waters;' 
Minnesota,  'sky  tinted  waters.'  A  com 
plete  understanding  of  Indian  words  might 
reveal  matters  of  highest  importance  to 
the  linguist."'* 

§    3.    SPANISH  INFLUENCES. 

There  is  little  doubt  but  most  of  the  un 
written,  religious  literature  of  the  Chero- 
kees,  and  that  finally  collated  in  the  But- 
rick  Collection,  is  traceable  to  the  influence 
of  the  devout  Cabeca  de  Vaca.  He  lived 

character."  T  he  name  points  out   an    indefatigable, 
keen,  successful  warrior." — Adatr. 

*Indian  Myths,  by    Helen  R.  Emerson. 


LITERATURE.  7 

at  an  early  date  among  the  Southern  Indi 
ans  and  they  believed  him  to  be  divine. 
He  taught  them  the  story  of  the  Genesis, 
and  while  among  them,  he  says,  they  be 
gan  the  custom  so  long  observed  among 
the  Cherokees  of  worshipping  by  bowing 
toward  the  rising  sun.  It  is  not  strange 
that  the  new  teaching  of  Cabeca  de  Vaca 
should  have  spread  rapidly  in  the  new 
world.  Tribes  mingled  with  each  other,  the 
story  of  the  invasion  of  the  pale-faces  and 
their  conquest  were  fertile  subjects  of  con 
versation,  and  the  story  of  the  divine  Ca— 
beca  de  Vaca  concerning  the  creation,  the 
flood  and  other  matters  was  spread  from 
tribe  to  tribe,  each  tribe  varying  the  de 
tail  according  to  their  own  crude  ideas, 
the  stories  changing  by  verbal  repetition 
until  the  missionaries  commenced  their 
work  when  they  were  collected  as  original. 

The  comparison  of  the  early  Cherokee 
religious  traditions  with  those  repeated  in 
the  Spanish  towns  in  Mexico  seems  to  in 
dicate  that  they  had  a  common  origin. 

Nine  years  did  Cabeca  de  Vaca  reside 
among  the  Southern  Indians,  always  ex- 


8  LITERATURE. 

erting  an  influence  for  good.  He  said  : 
4 'We  told  them  by  signs,  which  they  un 
derstood,  that  in  heaven,  there  was  One 
whom  we  called  God,  who  created  the 
heaven  and  the  earth,  and  that  we  our 
selves  adored  Him  and  held  Him  for 
Lord  and  did  what  he  commanded  us.* 
That  from  his  hand  came  all  good  things, 
and  if  they  should  do  as  we  did  much 
good  would  follow." 

§  4.  THE  LAW. 

"Some  time  after  the  red  man  entered 
the  wilderness,  they  came  to  a  very  high 
mountain,  and  God  came  down  upon  the 
mountain,  and  their  leader  went  up  and 
conversed  with  God,  or,  rather,  as  their 
fathers  said,  with  the  son  of  God.  They 
supposed,  therefore,  that  God  had  a  son, 
as  it  was  said  to  be  the  Son  of  God  that 
came  down  on  the  mountain,  and  the  top 
of  the  mountain  was  bright  like  the  sun. 
There  God  gave  their  leader  a  law,  writ 
ten  on  a  smooth  stone.  The  reason  of 
this  being  written  on  stone  was  as  follows  : 


LITERATURE.  9 

*  'God  gave  our  first  parents  a  law,  to  be 
handed  down  verbally  to  posterity,  but 
when  the  language  was  destroyed  and 
men  began  to  quarrel  and  kill  each  other 
they  forgot  this  law,  and  therefore  God 
wrote  his  law  on  a  stone,  a  smooth  slate 
stone,  that  it  might  not  be  lost.  Their 
leader  also  received  other  instructions 
from  God,whichhe  wrote  on  skins.'' 

§   5.      PARCHMENT. 

"Red  Bird,  an  old  Cherokee,  used  to 
say  the  Cherokees  had  a  white  post  set 
up  near  the  council  house,  and  on  the 
top  of  it  was  fastened  a  white  skin,  or 
piece  of  white  cloth,  to  remind  them  to 
keep  their  hearts  as  white  as  that  was, 
also  to  remind  them  of  the  command 
ments  which  were  once  given  .  to  their 
fathers,  and  written  on  white  (something 
white).  This  was  done  when  he  was  a 
boy,  as  he  told  his  son  Situagi."  So  said 
Deer-in-the-Water. 

§  6.  THE  BOOK. 

"God  gave  the  red  man    a   book    and 


10  LITERATURE. 

paper,  and  told  him  to  write ,  but  he  mere 
ly  made  marks  on  the  paper,  and  as  he 
could  not  read  or  write ,  the  Lord  gave 
him  a  bow  and  arrows,  and  gave  the  book 
to  the  white  man."  So  saidKotiski. 

Mr.  Boudinot,  speaking  of  the  Indians 
says:  "It  is  said  among  their  principal 
or  'beloved'  men,  that  they  have  it  hand 
ed  down  from  their  ancestors,  that  the 
boo^  which  the  white  people  have,  was 
once  theirs ;  that,  while  they  had  it,  they 
prospered  exceedingly  ;  but  that  the  white 
people  bought  it  of  them,  and  learned 
many  things  from  it ;  while  the  Indians 
lost  credit,  offended  the  Great  Spirit,  and 
suffered  exceedingly  from  the  neighbor 
ing  nations ;  that  the  Great  Spirit  took 
pity  on  them,  and  directed  them  to  this 
country  ;  that  on  their  way  they  came  to 
a  great  river,  which  they  could  not  pass, 
where  God  dried  up  the  waters,  and  they 
passed  over  dry  shod." 

§   7.  PRAYERS. 

Elias  Boudinot,  ex-editor  of  the  Cher 
okee  Phcenix,  thus  wrote  of  their  prayers 


LITERATURE.  II 

in  1827  :  "The  Cherokees  have  had  no 
established  religion  of  their  own,  and 
perhaps  to  this  circumstance  we  may  at 
tribute,  in  part,  the  facilities  with  which 
missionaries  have  pursued  their  ends. 
They  cannot  be  called  idolaters,  for  they 
never  worshipped  images.  They  believed 
in  a  Supreme  Being,  the  Creator  of  all, 
the  God  of  the  white,  the  red  and  the 
black  man.  They  also  believed  in  the 
existence  of  an  evil  spirit,  who  resided^ 
as  they  thought,  in  the  setting  sun,  the 
future  place  of  all  who  in  their  life  time 
had  done  iniquitously.  Their  prayers 
were  addressed  alone  to  the  Supreme 
Being,  and  if  written  would  fill  a  large 
volume,  and  display  much  sincerity, 
beauty  and  sublimity.  When  the  ancient 
customs  of  the  Cherokees  were  in  their 
full  force,  no  warrior  thought  himself  se 
cure,  unless  he  had  addressed  his  guar 
dian  angel ;  no  hunte  r  could  hope  for 
success,  unless  before  the  rising  sun,  he 
had  asked  the  assistance  of  his  God,  and 
on  his  return  at  eve,  he  had  offered  his 


12  LITERATURE. 

sacrifice  to  Him." 

§   8.   SYMBOLS. 

The  structures  used  for  dwellings 
among  the  Indians  were  plastered  on  the 
interior  with  red  or  white  clay,  on  which 
were  portrayed  various  objects  and  sym 
bols.  On  the  color  of  the  wall  depended 
the  color  of  paint  used  in  the  pictography  ; 
if  white,  the  pictures  were  red  ;  but  if  the 
wall  was  red,  they  were  blue.  Great  va 
riety  was  disclosed, — animals,  plants, 
trees,  flowers,  men  with  animal  heads, 
and  vice  versa.  These  hieroglyphics, 
states  Mr.  Squier,  were  made  in  bold  and 
firm  outlines,  conveying  meaning,  pas 
sion  and  admonition .  * 

§9.      MORAVIAN    INFLUENCES. 

As  early  as  the  year  1740  attempts 
were  made  by  the  United  Brethren 
to  spread  abroad  the  truths  of  the  gospel 
among  theCherokees,  but  these  and  sev 
eral  succeeding  endeavors  were  frustra 
ted  by  repeated  wars  among  the  different 

*From     Indian   Mvths  bv  Ellen  R.  Emerson. 


LITERATURE.  13 

Indian  tribes,  as  well  as  subsequent  hos 
tilities  between  the  English  and  Ameri 
cans.  Little  progress  was  made,  but  up 
to  1772  the  brethren  had  baptized  in 
North  America  720  Indians,  many  of 
whom  were  Cherokees.  In  1799  the 
Cherokees  made  special  demands  for 
teachers.  Abraham  Steiner  and  F.  C. 
von  Schweinitz  visited  that  part  of  the 
country,  and  being  favorably  received, 
paid  a  second  visit  to  the  country,  and  a 
council  was  called  at  Tellico  on  the  Riv 
er  Tennessee.  Three  or  four  thousand 
Cherokees  were  present.  The  result  of 
the  council  was  that  the  chiefs  of  the  up 
per  towns  declared  their  approbation  of 
the  proposal,  but  the  lower  chiefs  would 
not  agree  to  it.  Nevertheless  in  1801, 
A.  Steiner  and  Gottlieb  Byhan  took  up 
their  abode  with  a  Mr.  Vann,  and  schools 
were  opened,  from  wrhich  many  distin 
guished  Cherokees  went  forth.  Several 
of  the  scholars  were  sons  of  chiefs,  who 
appeared  very  desirous  that  their  children 
should  be  instructed.  The  young  people 


14  LITERATURE. 

rewarded  the  labors  of  their  teachers  by 
making  good  progress  in  reading  both 
English  and  Cherokee,  writing  and  arith 
metic,  and  by  the  pleasure  they  took  in 
learning  hymns  and  texts  of  Scripture. 
The  endeavors  of  the  Brethren  were 
greatly  facilitated  by  the  kind  exertions 
of  the  agent  of  the  Cherokee  Nation, 
Col.  Meigs. 

§   10     ORATORY. 

The  eloquence  of  the  Indian  is  more 
often  talked  of  than  understood.  The 
Indian  orators  had  wonderful  influence 
in  peace  and  war.  This  is  illustrated  in 
the  recorded  speeches  of  Oconostota,  the 
great  Cherokee  warrior,  or  Attakullaku- 
la.  their  Sachem  for  peace.  The  orators 
were  well-made  men,  of  a  powerful  voice 
and  ready  delivery.  Each  young  war 
rior,  when  he  had  returned  from  a  battle 
or  an  embassy,  had  a  right,  and  in  fact 
was  expected,  to  give  a  minute  account 
of  every  thing  he  had  seen  or  done. 
From  these  specimens  of  speaking,  the 


LITERATURE.  I> 

sagacious  sons  of  the  iorest,  judged  with 
great -shrewdness  of  the  respective  mer 
its  of  the  aspirants  for  distinction.  The 
best  speakers  were  encouraged  and  se 
lected  for  other  enterprises.  To  improve 
their  minds,  they  listened  hours  together 
to  the  historical  legends  of  the  aged  war 
rior  and  patriot,  and  treasured  up  the 
events  he  related  or  sentiments  he  utter 
ed.  The  student  in  oratory  was  careful 
to  remember  t  he  best  figures  of  rhetoric, 
which  were  used  by  the  aged  in  illustra- 
ting  their  sentiments;  hence  a  set  of 
phrases  have  descended  among  them  for 
ages,  such  as  "to  bur}*  the  hatchet, "and 
44  to  smoke  the  calumet  of  peace."  These 
and  many  other  phrases  thus  became  fix 
tures  in  their  language,  and  have  no 
doubtful  meaning.* 

§      II.     NUMERALS. 

Se-quo-3*ah.  having  invented  letters,' 
did  not  stop  there,  but  carried  his  discov 
eries  to  numbers.  Of  course  he  knew 

"Hinton's  History  of  the  United  States. 


l6  LITERATURE. 

nothing  of  the  Arabic  digits,  nor  of  the 
power  of  Roman  letters  in  the  science. 
The  Cherokees  had  mental  numerals  to 
one  hundred,  and  had  words  for  all  num 
bers  up  to  that ;  but  they  had  no  signs  or 
characters  to  assist  them  in  enumerating, 
adding,  subtracting,  multiply  ing,  or  divi 
ding.  He  reflected  upon  this  until  he  had 
created  their  elementary  principle  in  his 
mind ;  but  he  was  first  obliged  to  make 
words  to  express  his  meaning,  and  then 
signs  to  explain  it.  By  this  process,  he 
soon  had  a  clear  conception  of  numbers 
up  to  a  million.  His  great  difficulty  was 
at  the  threshold,  to  fix  the  powers  of  the 
signs  according  to  their  places.  When 
this  was  overcome,  his  next  step  was  in 
adding  up  his  different  numbers  in  order 
to  put  down  the  fraction  of  the  decimal, 
and  give  the  whole  number  to  his  next 
place.  Knapp  says  in  his  " Lectures  on 
American  Literature"  from  which  the 
above  facts  are  taken,  that — "When  I 
knew  him,  he  had  overcome  all  these 
difficulties  and  was  quite  a  ready  arithme- 


LITERATURE.  17 

tician  in  the  fundamental  rules.  This 
was  the  result  of  my  interview  ;  and  I  can 
safely  say,  that  I  have  seldom  met  a  man 
of  more  shrewdness  than  See-quah-yah". 

§    12.  VISIONS. 

The  Cherokees  have  many  accounts  oj 
visions.  There  is  little  doubt  but  what 
the  first  Cherokee  Hymn  that  was  written 
down  by  the  missionaries  was  the  result 
of  a  vision,  as  will  be  shown  further  on. 
The  accounts  of  visions  were  of  people 
supposed  to  be  dead,  but  afterward  reviv 
ing,  related  what  they  had  seen  in  the  land 
of  shades.  These  visions  had  a  tendency 
to  enforce  the  practice  of  virtue. 
§  13.  SONGS. 

Songs  accompanied  the  dances  of  the 
early  Cherokee.  They  were  martial,  bac 
chanalian  and  amorous.  They  had  moral 
songs  much  esteemed  and  the  precepts 
practiced  and  these  answered  the  purpose 
of  religion  s  lectures.  Many  of  these  songs 
were  borrowed  from  the  Chocraws,  who  in 
early  times  were  eminent  for  their  poetry 
and  music.  Ever}'  Cherokee  town  strove 


l8  LITERATURE. 

to  excel  every  other  in  composing  new 
songs,  and  by  a  custom  they  had  at  least 
one  new  song  at  every  annual  busk  or  the 
feast  of  first  fruits.  The  doleful  songs  or 
elegies  had  a  quick  and  sensible  effect  on 
the  passions  and  disclosed  a  lively  affec 
tion  and  sensibility.  Their  countenances 
at  first  dejected,  again,  by  an  easy  transi 
tion  became  gently  elevated,  as  if  in  sol 
emn  address  or  supplication,  accompanied 
with  a  tremulous,  sweet,  lamentable  voice. 
When  listening  to  these  songs,  a  stranger 
would  be  for  a  moment  lost  to  himself,  as 
it  were  taking  upon  himself  the  expressed 
joy  or  sorrow  of  the  singer.  Their  war 
songs  were  a  loose  sort  of  poetry.  Their 
love  songs  contained  no  more  than  an  af 
firmation  that  the  young  man  loves  the 
young  woman  and  will  be  "uneasy,"  ac 
cording  to  their  own  expression,  if  he 
does  not  obtain  her.  The  above  facts  are 
found  in  the  Memoir  of  Lieutenant  Tim- 
berlake  and  the  Travels  of  Bartram. 

§   14.       ANNALS    OF    VICTORY. 

It  was  the  prevailing  custom  of  Chero- 


LITERATURE.  19 

kees  to  engrave  the  story  of  their  victory 
on  some  neighboring  tree,  or  to  set  up 
some  token  of  it  near  the  field  of  battle;  to 
this  they  pointed  with  pride,  as  a  history 
of  their  victory,  and  especially  of  their  en 
emies'  defeat  and  of  the  slaughter  in  their 
ranks  that  they  had  made. 

§15.  BOON'S  RECORD. 
One  white  man  left  a  record  in  a  similar 
way  in  the  old  Cherokee  country.  In  the 
year  1853,  it  was  still  to  be  seen  on  a  beech 
tree  standing  in  sight  and  east  of  the  stage 
road  leading  from  Jonesville  to  Blounts- 
ville,  and  in  the  valley  of  Boon's  Creek,  a 
tributary  of  Watauga. 

D.  Boon 

CillED  A.     BAR  On 

Tree 

in  ThE 

yEAR 

1760 

The  above  is  taken  from  the    Annals  of 
Tennessee,    by  Ramsey. 

§    15.      THE    CHALLENGE. 
It  was  the  custom  of  the    Cherokee  In- 


20  LITERATURE. 

dian  to  leave  in  the  enemies'  country,  a 
club,  in  shape  something  the  form  of  a 
war  club  or  a  cricket  bat,  with  many  of 
their  warlike  exploits  written  upon  it,  and 
the  enemy  accepted  the  challenge  by  at 
once  bringing  it  back  into  the  Cherokee 
Country,  So  said  Henry  Timberlake,  who 
accompanied  the  three  Cherokees  to  lay 
the  crown  before  King  George. 

§    l6.    ORIGIN  OF  THE    FIRST  CHEROKEE 
HYMN. 

'4The  Lord  is  my  Shepherd,  I  shall 
not  want."  More  than  sixty  years  ago, 
Missionary  Chamberlm,  translating  the 
passage,  repeated  it  slowly  to  his  little 
Cherokee  scholar,  Lydia  Lowrey. 

"He  maketh  me  to  lie  down  in  green 
pastures  ;  he  leadeth  me  beside  the  still 
waters,"  were  the  first  words  that  really 
attracted  toward  God,  the  thoughts  of 
that  nature-lo.ving  Cherokee  girl,  who  at 
that  time  was  numbered  among  the  very 
brightest  of  that  then  uncivilized  tribe. 

Up  to  that  time  there  had  been  no  na 
tive  hymns,  and  the  songs  she  sang  were 


LITERATURE.  21 

English  Missionary  hymns,  or  the  ruder 
murmurs  that  nature  taught  her. 

And  when  the  lessons  of  the  Sabbath 
morning  were  over,  the  Cherokee  maiden 
bounded  away  over  the  cleared  lot  and 
threw  herself  beside  the  brook  which  was 
rippling  in  the  deep  forest. 

"He  leadeth  me  beside  the  still  waters," 
she  involuntarily  repeated  as  she  sat 
down  beside  the  brook.  And  then  she  fell 
to  wondering  about  the  Great  Spirit  cf 
the  Pale  Face,  and  then  she  fell  asleep. 
As  she  slept  she  dreamed;  and  wonderful 
indeed,  has  been  the  result  of  many 
dreams  of  the  Cherokee  People. 

She  dreamed  of  a  grove  of  wonderful 
beauty,  in  which  had  gathered  a  vast 
concourse  of  Cherokee  people.  They 
were  seated  around  in  a  semi-circle,  and 
in  their  midst  stood  a  wonderful  being, 
giving  praise  to  the  Great  Spirit,  the 
whole  congregation  repeating  again  and 
again  the  words  after  him,  in  joyful 
Cherokee  song.  And  when  the  Cherokee 
girl  awoke,  she  looked  about  her  in  sur 
prise,  for  she  then  saw  no  congregation, 


22  LITERATURE. 

and  heard  no  music  but  the  brook's  mur 
mur,  and  the  song- words  of  the  singing 
birds.  But  the  song  of  her  dreams  still 
filled  her  mind,  and  she  went  and  told 
Missionary  Chamberlin  her  dream.  And 
he  asked  her  to  tell  him  the  exact  words 
which  the  congregation  of  her  dream 
had  chanted,  and  she  repeated  the  fol 
lowing  in  Cherokee,  of  which  this  is  a 
free  translation  : 

"God  and  I  are  friends, 
I  will  not  be  afraid  of  Him. 
Though  all  the  world  be  against  me, 
I  will  still  be  confident." 

This  was  the  first  Cherokee  hymn,  and 
it  was  the  result  of  this  dream  of  little 
Lydia  Lowrey.  This  stanza  was  soon 
followed  by  others,  and  was  a  popular 
hymn  in  all  th.e  early  religious  meetings 
among  the  Cherokee  people.  It  acted 
like  a  key  to  unlock  the  language,  until 

•/  O  O 

now  there  is  quite  a  collection  of  hymns 
for  church  music,  and  among  those  who 
sing  them  to-day,  there  are  children  of 
the  same  Indian  dreamer  ;  and  a  grand 
son,  it  is  said,  is  a  presiding  elder  in  the 


LITERATURE.  23 

Cherokee  Nation  ;  but  she  who  dreamed 
has  long  since  passed  beyond  the  green 
pastures  of  earth,  over  the  still  waters  of 
the  creek,  through  the  deep  iorest,  and 
perhaps  is  now  one  of  that  mysterious 
band  that  she  saw  in  her  vision  more 
than  three  score  years  agone.  Who  can 
tell?* 


The  Cherokees  have  a  song  of  friend- 

c5 

ship  which  in  their  language  reads  thus  : 

Kan-al-li  eh  ne  was  to 
Yai  ne  no  wai  ai  e  noo  ho 
Ti  mai  tan  na  Klai  ne  was  tu 
Yai  ne  wai  E-noo  wai  hoo. 
You  resemble  a  friend  of  mine, 
And  you  look  like  a  friend  to  me; 
I  think  that  we  are  brothers  kind, 
And  brothers  we  will  be. 

§  17.   INFLUENCES  OF  THE  A.  B.  C.  F.  M. 

In  1817,  the  American  Board  of  Con 
gregational  Foreign  Missions  established 
schools  among  the  Cherokees  at  Brainerd 
and  also  a  Mission  school  at  Cornwall, 

*The  above  was  written  by  the  author  of  this 
book,  for  the  "Woman's  Magazine"  from  which  it 
is  reprinted  without  change. 


24  LITERATURE./ 

Connecticut.  To  these  schools  were  sent 
the  brightest  youth,  that  were  then  atten 
ding  or  had  been  partially  educated  at  the 
Moravian  schools.  The  students,  who  had 
already  made  good  progress,  continued  to 
develop  surprising  faculties.  Their  ad 
vancement  was  rapid.  They  pursued  their 
studies  with  diligence,  and  on  leaving 
these  institutions  they  labored  with  the 
missionaries  to  translate  the  Scriptures 
and  various  text  books  into  Cherokee.  In 
the  publication  of  these  works  the  Board 
gave  considerable  assistance  up  to  the 
year  1862,  when  they  not  only  withdrew 
their  mission  work,  but  printing  in  Chero 
kee,  almost  entirely  ceased  except  for  the 
publication  of  their  laws  and  on  one  page 
of  their  National  paper.  Among  the  prom 
inent  Cherokee  young  men,  who  helped 
translate  the  Scriptures  and  other  works, 
were  John  Arch,  (At-see),  John  Ridge, 
Charles  Hicks,  George  Lowrey,  David 
Brown,  Elias  Boudinot,  John  Huss,  Jesse 
Bushyhead  and  Stephen  Foreman. 
§  1 8.  ENGLISH  TEXT  BOOKS  AT  BRAINERD. 
It  is  of  interest  to  know  what  English 


LITERATURE.  25 

books  were  used  at    the    Brainerd   school. 
Below  is  the  list  in  1826. 

Old  and  New  Testament. 

Webster's  Tables. 

Woodbri  dge's  Geography. 

Cumming's  First    Lessons    in     Geogra 
phy. 

Webster's  Spelling  Book. 

'Raven  and  Dove. 

Marshall's  Tables  of  Definitions. 

Colburn's  Arithmetic. 

§  19.  THE  PICKERING  ALPHABET. 

In  1826,  an  effort  was  made  to  print  some 
Cherokee  works  in  the  Pickering  alpha 
bet.  This  was  used  in  translating  works 
into  the  various  languages  used  at  the 
stations  of  the  American  Board,  especial 
ly  in  the  Sandwich  Islands.  This  alphabet 
being  nearly  a  perfect  one  was  easily 
learned.  The  Board,  however,  was  not 
ready  to  print  Cherokee  in  the  Pickering 
alphabet.  Before  they  were  ready,  Se- 
quo-yah,  one  of  their  own  number,  invent 
ed  for  them  an  alphabet  of  far  greater 
simplicity.  Then  it  was  too  late  to  use 


26  LITERATURE. 

it.  National  pride  came  in  and  to  have 
used  the  Pickering  alphabet  would  have 
been  hazardous  to  mission  work.  The 
manuscripts  of  the  Pickering  alphabet 
were  abandoned  and  that  of  Se-quo-yah 
or  George  Gist  was  formally  adopted  by 
the  Council. 

§    2O.       SCOTCH     INFLUENCES. 

"There  is,"  said  Ridge  Pascal,  "the 
best  blood  of  Scotland  flowing  in  the 
veins  of  the  Rosses,  the  Adairs,  the  Mc- 
Leods,  McDonalds,  and  many  others. 
Some  of  our  people  can  trace  their  an 
cestry  back  to  the  Scottish  nobility,  but 
they  are  prouder  of  their  Cherokee  than 
their  noble  Scotch  blood."  He  explains 
the  prevalence  of  Scottish  names  among 
this  people  as  follows  :  "My  mother,  who 
was  a  full  blood  learned  from  my  grand 
father,  who  was  the  great  chief,  named 
Ridge,  that,  before  the  Revolutionary 
War,  a  number  of  Scdtch  nobility,  who 
were  unfriendly  to  the  crown  of  England 
emigrated  to  America  to  save  their  heads 

o 

and  settled  in  the    Carolinas.    When  the 


LITERATURE.  2/ 

Revolutionary  War  broke  out,  a  majority 
of  the  descendants  of  these  Scotch  fami 
lies  became  Tories.  When  Great  Brit 
ain  was  defeated,  and  her  armies  expel 
led  from  American  soil,  the  Scotchmen, 
unable  to  return  to  England  and  afraid 
of  the  victorious  Americans,  pushed  out 
on  the  Cherokee  reserve  and  settled 
among  the  Indians.  In  course  of  time 
they  were  absorbed  by  marriage  and  by 
adoption  into  the  Nation."* 

§     20,       THE  WHITE  ELEMENT. 

One  of  the  leading  questions  in  the 
Cherokee  debating  societies  is  upon  the 
value  of  white  blood  in  the  history  of 
their  civilization.  As  a  usual  thing  the 
Cherokee  half-breed  is  as  loyal  to  the 
white  blood  as  the  red  in  his  veins,  but  he 
always  traces  his  red  lineage  with  pride. 
S.  S.  Stephens  of  Vinita,  Cherokee  Na 
tion  thus  writes  to  his  countrymen  in  the 
"Indian  Chieftain"  of  Oct.  28th,  1886.- 

"The  Saxon  element  is  fast  becoming 
the  motive  power.  It  has  set  in  motion 

""Cincinnati  Graphic  Nervs. 


28  LITERATURE. 

the  wheel  of  the  manufacturer ;  opened 
the  best  farms  in  the  nation  ;  raised  the 
largest  herds  of  cattle  ;  built  our  colleges 
and  given  existence,  character  and  effi 
ciency  to  our  common  schools  and  pub 
lished  the  Old  and  New  Testament  in 
the  Cherokee  language.  Go  from  dis 
trict  to  district  and  you  will  find  this 
same  white  man's  character  telling  on  the 
industry  and  enterprise,  the  thritt  and 
the  prosperity  of  the  people.  Don't  cry 
out,  half-breeds,  and  say  that  it  is  not  so. 
Think  before  you  speak,  and  you  will 
mid  that  your  father  or  mother  was  of 
English  descent.  Ask  who  taught  our 
schools,  thirty  and  forty  years  ago  ;  who 
are  the  principal  teachers  of  our  semina 
ries,  who  are  our  lawyers,  physicians, 
preachers,  most  thriving  farmers,  me 
chanics  and  merchants.  I  have  given 
you  the  domestic  fruits  of  our  white  men 
who  have  by  assimilation  and  intermar 
riage  been  an  advantage  to  the  Cherokee 
people.  The  white  element  of  the  coun 
try  has  become  an  important  factor  in  our 


LITERATURE.  29 

civil  and  religious  institutions.  Truth  is 
a  strong  leaven  and  though  it  is  unseen, 
it  is  sure  to  leaven  the  lump.  Can  we 
ride  on  the  crested  wave,  and  breast 
the  roaring;  storm  without  our  white 

o 

lathers  and  mothers?" 

But  it  is  no  argument  against  the 
Cherokee  Nation  as  a  native  people  that 
the  white  men  may  be  the  greatest  crop- 
producers,  and  that  some  white  men 
there  engage  in  mechanical  pursuits  ;  or 
that  a  Cherokee  can  engage  a  white 
man  to  till  the  soil  and  himself  live  on 
the  rental.  The  Cheroke  es,  naturally 
indolent,  have  become  in  point  of  fact, 
an  industrious  people,  while  the  descen 
dants  of  the  .oldstock  race  in  the  States, 
naturally  industrious,  seem  to  be  growing 
more  indolent.  It  has  taken  thousands 
of  years  for  the  whites  to  attain  their 
present  state  of  civilization,  while  the 
first  germs  of  Cherokee  civilization  reach 
back  hardly  a  century.  English,  Scotch, 
German  and  Irish  intermarry  in  the 
States,  and  their  offspring  go  to  make 


3O  LITERATURE. 

up  the  American  people,  who  compose 
our  civilization,  yet  we  do  not  hear  it  ci 
ted  that  our  civilization  is  any  the  less 
American  that  it  is  so  ;  neither  should 
we  consider  the  civilization  of  the  Chero- 
kees  less  a  Cherokee  civilization  because 
white  men  and  white  women  have  inter 
married  writh  this  race.  Intermarriage 
with  other  Indian  tribes  produced  no  like 
results. 

§    21.   BAPTIST  INFLUENCES. 

In  1817  Rev.  Humphrey  Posey  was 
the  first  appointed  missionary  from  the 
Baptist  convention  to  the  land  of  the 
Cherokees.  He  established  two  or  three 
temporary  schools,  which  were  abandon 
ed  to  allow  him  to  make  a  tour  among 
the  Indian  tribes,  but  in  1820,  with  an 
able  corps  of  teachers,  he  established  a 
station  at  Valley  Towns,  on  the  banks  of 
the  Hiwassee,  just  within  the  southern 
boundary  of  North  Carolina.  Eighty 
acres  of  land  were  enclosed  as  a  mission 
farm,  which  was  supplied  with  stock  and 
the  necessary  implements  of  agriculture. 


LITERATURE.  31 

Buildings  were  erected,  and  a  school  of 
fifty  children  was  opened,  in  which  in 
struction  was  daily  given  in  the  Scrip 
tures  and  in  useful  knowledge,  and  the 
arts  of  civilized  life.  Other  stations  were 
soon  established,  and  the  grand  work 
went  on.  Among  the  Indian  converts  of 
superior  intelligence  and  wrorth,  who  at 
this  period  became  connected  with  the 
churches  of  the  mission,  were  three 
whose  names  became  well  known  as  the 
names  of  Christian  ministers.  These 
were  Oganaza,  Kaneeka,  afterward 
called  John  WicklifFe,  and  Jesse  Bushy- 
head.  Each  of  these  men  had  an  impor 
tant  influence  on  Cherokee  literature  and 
the  literary  attainments  of  this  people. 
Through  them  many  portions  of  the 
Scripture  were  first  translated  into  Cher 
okee.  Fuller  particulars  of  the  transla 
tion,  etc.,  will  appear  in  subsequent  pa 
ges.  The  Baptists  have  never  given  up 
their  mission  work  in  the  Cherokee  na 
tion,  and  their  work  is  still  going  on,  and 
the  blessing  cometh  down.  The  Metho- 

o 


32  LITERATURE. 

dists  have  also  added  their  mite  in  the 
way  of  schools  and  mission  churches. 
The  work  of  the  Moravians,  Baptists, 
Methodists,  and  schools  of  the  American 
Board,  did  much  toward  preparing  the 
Cherokees  for  their  written  literature, 
which  was  due  to  Se-quo-yah,  an  un 
learned  half-breed,  who  gave*  them  the 
first  alphabet  which  had  been  invented 
by  any  aboriginal  nation  for  over  a  thou 
sand  years. 

^    22.       NATIVE     ADAPTABILITY. 

The  Cherokees  more  than  any  other 
Aboriginal  tribe  was  willing  to  be  the 
recipient  of  instruction  Irom  the  whites. 
Said  Elias  Boudinot  on  this  subject  in 
1824: — "It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  in 
no  ignorant  country  have  the  missiona 
ries  experienced  less  trouble  and  difficul 
ty  in  spreading  a  knowledge  of  the  Bi 
ble.  Here  they  have  been  welcomed  by 
the  proper  authorities  of  the  Nation,  and 
their  persons  have  been  protected." 

Said  Mr.  Worcester  two  years  after  : — 
«' Their  enthusiasm  is  kindled,  and  great 


LITERATURE.  33 

numbers  have  learned  to  read  and  write. 
They  are  circulating  hymns  and  portions 
of  the  Scripture,  and  are  writing  letters 
every  day."  Said  Mr.  Thompson,  in 
1830,  "Could  it  be  known  by  all  the 
friends  of  missions  with  what  avidity 
they  seek  reading,  they  would  urge  us 
to  give  them  more  as  fast  as  possible. 
There  is  a  spirit  of  inquiry  in  all  parts  of 
the  Nation."  Say  s  Mr.  Evarts,  in  1827, 
concerning  the  school  at  Brainerd  :  "Not 
a  word  was  missed  by  the  whole  school  in 
spelling.  One  of  the  boys,  ten  or  eleven 
years  of  age,  who  had  been  in  school 
less  than  five  months,  not  having  previ 
ously  learned  the  alphabet,  was  spelling 
in  words  of  three  syllables,  and  had  nev 
er  missed  but  a  single  word.  Consider 
ing  what  it  is  for  children  to  learn  to  spell 
in  a  foreign  language,  and  how  very  am 
biguous  and  deceitful  the  English  alpha 
bet  is,  these  facts  certainly  provs  an  ex 
traordinary  attention  of  the  mind."  Said 
the  Committee  of  the  American  Board 
the  same  year :  "The  experience  of  an 


34  LITERATURE. 

other  year  enables  the  committee  to  say, 
that  the  transforming  efficacy  of  the 
Christian  religion,  both  upon  individuals 
and  upon  neighborhoods,  is  now  seen  in 
different  parts  of  the  Cherokee  Nation. 
If  the  same  efficacy  should  pervade  every 
part,  a  most  lovely  branch  of  the  church 
universal  would  here  unfold  its  flowers 
and  dispense  its  fruit." 

§23.    THE  SE-QUO-YAN  ERA. 

We  have  followed  the  intellectual 
growth  of  the  Cherokees  ,  from  the  bar 
baric,  through  the  traditionary  periods, 
and  to  the  advent  of  missionaries  in  1801, 
which  mu  st  form  the  First  Epoch  in  our 
discussion  of  their  literature.  The  Sec 
ond  epoch  covers  the  period  from  1801 
to  1826,  when  Se-quo-yah  gave  them 
an  alphabet.  The  first  epoch  was  in 
deed  one  of  ignorance,  but  in  one  quar 
ter  of  a  century  they  developed  a  fair 
state  of  civilization.  Schools  were  in 
progress  at  Brainerd,  Carmel,  Creek-path, 
High-tower,  Wills  town,  Haweis  and  Can- 


LITERATURE.  35 

dy's  Creek,  under  the  auspices  of  the 
American  Board.  The  Baptists  had  schools 
at  Valley  Towns  and  Tinsawatte,  and  the 
Methodists  had  four  Missionaries  laboring 
in  the  Nation,  and  the  Moravians  still  kept 
their  school  at  Spring-place.  More  than 
this,  the  students  who  had  attended  the 
mission  school  at  Cornwall,  Ct.,  had  all 
returned  and  were  doing  a  good  work 
among  the  people.  Such  was  the  condi 
tion  of  affairs  in  th'e  Cherokee  Nation 
when  Se-quo-yah's  alphabet  was  accepted 
by  the  Council.  So  fully  has  the  biogra 
phy  of  Se-quo-yah  been  written  out  in 
the  first  of  this  series,*  that  details  will 
not  be  entered  into  in  this  work.  He  came 
at  the  most  opportune  time.  Portions  of 
the  Scriptures  and  other  literature  had 
been  reduced  to  Cherokee  in  Roman  form, 
several  missionaries  had  in  a  measure  ana 
lyzed  the  language,  and  the  Cherokee 
youth,  from  the  mission  schools,  were 
good  interpreters.  At  least  three  precious 
years  were  lost  by  the  Cherokees  after  the 

*See  "Se-quo-yah,    the   American    Cadmus    and 
Modern  Moses." 


36  LITERATURE. 

invention  before  they  would  accept  the 
alphabet,  but 'once  accepted  it  became  a 
national  institution,  for  which  they  fought 
with  as  much  earnestness  as  they  at  first 
opposed  it.  Said  Mr.  Worcester  in  1827: 
"Tell  them  now  of  printing  in  any  other 
character,  and  you  throw  cold  water  on 
the  fire  you  are  trying  to  kindle.  To  per 
suade  them  to  learn  that  other  would  be 
in  general  a  hopeless  task.  Print  a  book 
in  Se-quo-yah's  alphabet,  and  hundreds, 
both  of  adults  and  children,  can  read  it 
the  moment  that  it  is  given  them." 
§  24.  GOVERNMENT  GROWTH. 
For  several  years  the  Cherokees  had 
striven  to  imitate  the  whites  in  the  man 
agement  of  their  affairs,  and  the  Councils 
were  well  conducted.  In  1810  the  Council 
abolished  clans,  and  unanimously  passed 
an  act  of  oblivion  for  all  lives  for  which 
they  had  been  indebted  one  to  another. 
In  1820  the  Nation  was  reorganized,  and 
by  a  resolve  of  its  national  council,  divi 
ded  into  eight  districts,  each  of  which  had 
the  privilege  of  sending  four  members  to 


LITERATURE.  37 

the  legislature.  The  pay  of  members  was 
established  at  one  dollar  per  day;  that  of 
the  speaker  being  fixed  at  one  and  a  half 
dollars,  and  the  principal  chiefs  were  to 
receive  $150  a  year.  Some  of  their  princi 
pal  laws  and  regulations  were — a  prohibi 
tion  of  spirituous  liquor  being  brought " 
into  the  nation  by  white  m  en.  If  a  white 
man  took  a  Cherokee  wife,  he  must  marry 
her  according  to  their  laws;  but  her  prop 
erty  was  not  affected  by  such  union.  No 
man  was  allowed  but  one  wife.  A  judge, 
marshal,  sheriff  and  deputy,  and  two  con 
stables,  were  commissioned  in  each  dis 
trict.  Embezzlement,  intercepting  and 
opening  sealed  letters,  was  punished  by 
a  fine  of  $100,  and  100  lashes  on  the  bare 
back.  No  business  was  allowed  on  Sun 
days;  and  fences  were  regulated  by  stat 
ute.  They  also  had  a  statute  of  limita 
tions,  which,  however,  did  not  affect  notes 
or  settled  accounts.  A  will  was  valid,  if 
found,  on  the  decease  of  its  maker,  to  have 
been  written  by  him,  and  witnessed  by 
two  creditable  persons.  A  man  leaving  no 
will,  all  his  children  shared  equal,  and  his 


38  LITERATURE. 

wife  as  one  of  them;  if  he  left  no  children, 
then  the  widow  to  have  a  fourth  part  of 
all  property;  the  other  three-fourths  to  go 
to  his  nearest  relations.  And  so  if  the 
wife  died,  leaving  property.  Before  the 
division  of  the  nation  into  districts,  and 
the  appointment  of  the  above  named  civil 
officers,  there  was  an  organized  company 
of  light-horse,  which  executed  the  orders 
of  the  chiefs,  searched  out  offenders,  and 
brought  them  to  justice.  It  was  a  funda 
mental  law,  that  no  land  should  be  sold 
to  the  white  people  without  the  authority 
of  a  majority  of  the  nation.  Transgressors 
of  this  law  were  punished  with  death. 

§  25.  BIRTH  OF  JOURNALISM. 
A    council   held    by   the    Cherokees  at 
New  Echota,  Cherokee  Nation,  Oct.  I5th, 
1825,  and  the  following    resolutions    were 
passed: — 

New  Town,  Cherokee  Nation, 

October  I5th,  1825. 

RESOLVED  by  the  National  Committee 
and  Council,  That  an  agent  or  agents, 
shall  be  appointed  to  solicit  and  receive 


L I TER ATURE .  39 

donations  of  money  from  individuals,  or 
throughout  the  United  States,  for  the  ob 
ject  of  establishing  and  supporting  a  na 
tional  academy,,  and  for  procuring  two 
sets  of  types  to  fit  one  press,  to  establish 
a  printing  office  at  New  Town,  (C.  N.) 
one  set  of  types  to  be  composed  of  English 
letters,  the  other  of  characters,  the  inven 
tion  of  George  Guist,  a  Cherokee. 

Be  it  further  resolved,  That  the  agent 
or  agents  be  required  to  keep  a  correct 
account  of  his  or  their  travel  ling  expenses, 
the  same  to  be  paid  out  of  the  sum  collect 
ed,  and  said  agent  or  agents  shall  be  enti 
tled  to  receive  eight  per  cent,  on  the 
amount  paid  over  to  the  Treasurer. 

Be  it  further  resolved,  That  the  Treasu 
rer  be,  and  is,  hereby  authorized  to  apply 
fifteen  hundred  dollars,  out  of  the  public 
funds,  towards  the  objects  herein  specified; 
and  in  case  that  the  agent  or  agents  are 
successful  in  obtaining  donations  sufficient 
to  purchase  the  requisite  types  and  press, 
the  Treasurer  is  further  authorised  to 
make  the  purchase  as  soon  as  circumstan 
ces  will  permit.  In  the  mean  time,  the 


40  LITERATURE. 

Treasurer  is  hereby  required  to  open  a 
correspondence  with  such  person  or  per 
sons  of  some  of  the  eastern  cities,  as  may 
be  capable  of  giving  correct  information 
relative  to  the  same,  for  which  the  two 
sets  of  types  and  press  can  be  purchased; 
and  the  National  Committee  and  Council 
hereby  appoint  Elias  Boudinott  as  agent 
to  solicit  and  receive  donations  for  the 
objects  herein  specified;  and  further,  the 
Treasurer  is  hereby  authorised  to  appoint 
ether  agent  or  agents,  if  in  his  judgment, 
may  be  hereafter  deemed  expedient. 

J  NO.  ROSS,   Pres'tN.  Com. 
Concurred  in  by  the  council. 

MAJOR  RIDGE,  Speaker, 
his 

PATH  X  KILLER, 
mark, 

CH.  R.  HICKs. 
A.  McCOY,  clerk  Com. 
E.  BOUDINOTT,  clerk  Coun'l. 

Active  labor  was  put  in  by  the  agents 
appointed  for  the  purpose,  and  the  follow 
ing  year,  being  assured  of  the  practicabil 
ity,  at  the  council  held  at  New  Echota, 


LITERATURE.  4! 

on  Nov.  2nd,  1826,  the  following  act   was 

passed : — 

New  Echota,  Cherokee  Nation, 

November  2,  1826. 
RESOLVED  by  the  National  Committee 
and  Council,  That  a  house  shall  be  built 
for  a  printing  office,  of  the  following  di 
mensions  ;  24  by  20  feet,  one  story  high, 
.  shingle  roof,  with  one  fire  place,  one 
door  at  the  end  of  the  house,  one  floor, 
and  a  window  in  each  side  of  the  house, 
two  lights  deep,  and  ten  feet  long,  to  be 
chincked  and  lined  in  the  inside  with 
narrow  plank  ;  with  the  neccessary  wa 
tering  benches  and  type  desks  requisite 
for  a  printing  office. 

GEORGE  LOWREY,  Pres't  pro-tern. 
MAJOR  RIDGE,  Speaker, 

his 
PATHX  KILLER, 

mark 

CH.  R.  HICKS. 
A.  McCOY,  clerk  Com. 
E.  BOUDINOTT,  clerk  Coun'l. 


42  LITERATURE. 

Two  days  later,  signed  and    approved 
by  the  same,  exceptthat  John  Ross  signed 
as  President  of  the   Council,  the  follow 
ing  was  passed  :— 
New  Echota,  Cherokee  Nation, 

4th  November,  1826. 

RESOLVED  by  the  National  Committee 
and  Council,  That  David  Brown  and 
George  Lowrey  be,  and  they  are  hereby 
appointed  to  translate  eight  copies  of  the 
laws  of  the  Cherokee  Nation,  as  early  as 
convenient,  into  the  Cherokee  language, 
written  in  characters  invented  by  George 
Guess,  and  also  to  translate  one  copy  oi 
the  New  Testament  in  the  same  charac 
ters,  and  to  present  them  to  the  General 
Council,  when  completed,  and  the  Na 
tional  Committee  and  Council  shall  com 
pensate  them  for  their  services. 

JNO.  ROSS,  Pres't.  N.  Com. 

MAJOR  RIDGE,  Speaker. 

his 

Approved— PATH  ^  KILLER, 
mark 

CH.  R.  HICKS. 
A.  McCOY,  clerk  of  Com. 
E.  BOUDINOTT,  clerk  Coun'l. 


LITERATURE.  43 

RESOLVED  by  the  National  Commit 
tee  and  Council,  That  Isaac  H.  Harris 
be  and  is  hereby  appointed  principal 
Printer  for  the  Cherokee  Nation,  whose 
salary  shall  be  four  hundred  dollars  a 
year,  and  whose  duty  shall  be  to  attend 
to  the  printing  of  paper  to  be  printed  at 
New  Echota  ;  and  it  shall  further  be  the 
duty  of  said  Harris  to  employ,  and  he  is 
hereby  authorised  to  employ  a  journey 
man  printer,  of  sober  and  studious  habits 
in  behalf  of  the  Cherokee  Nation,  in  or 
der  that  the  aforesaid  paper  may  be  suc 
cessfully  carried  into  effect. 

And  be  it  further  resolved,  That  the 
salary  ot  the  journeyman  Printer  so  em 
ployed  shall  be  three  hundred  dollars  a 
year. 

And  be  it  further  resolved,  That  the 
commencement  of  the  salaries  of  said 
Printers  shall  commence  and  begin  on 
the  day  of  the  commencement  of  the  pa 
per,  which  shall  take  place  as  soon  as 
practicable,  and  that  the  aforesaid  respec 
tive  sums  be,  and  are  hereby  appropria- 


44  LITERATURE. 

ted  out  of  any  monies  in  the  Treasury 
not  otherwise  appropriated  ;  and  it  shall 
be  the  duty  of  the  Editor,  at  the  expira 
tion  of  a  term,  to  certify  that  the  printers 
have  well  and  faithfully  performed  their 
contracts  as  printers,  which  certificates 
shall  be  presented  to  the  National  Treas 
urer  for  payment,  who  is  hereby  author 
ised  to  engage  the  aforesaid  printers  in 
an  obligation  of  sufficient  penalty  for  de 
fault,  for  the  certain  performance  of 
printing  the  National  paper. 

ELIJAH  HICKS,  Pres't  N.  Com. 

MAJOR  RIDGE,  Speaker. 

Approved— WM.      HICKS. 

JNO.  ROSS. 
A.  McCOY,  clerk  Com. 
E.  BOUDINOTT,  Clerk  N.  Com. 

RESOLVED  by  the  National  Committee 
and  Council,  That  a  person  be  appointed 
whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  edit  a  weekly 
newspaper  at  New  Echota  to  be  entitled 
the  "Cherokee  Phoenix/"  G-wy  JdvaucK*. 
and  also  to  translate  all  public  documents 


LITERATURE.  45 

which  may  be  submitted  for  publication, 
and  that  the  sum  of  three    hundred    dol 
lars  per  annum   be    allowed    said    editor 
and  translator  for  their  services. 
New  Echota,  Oct.  18,  1826. 

ELIJAH  HICKS,  Pres't   N.  Com. 
MAJOR  RIDGE.  Speaker  Coiin. 
Approved— WILLIAM  HICKS, 

JOHN  ROSS. 
A.  McCOY,  clerk  Com. 
E.  BOUDINOTT,  Clerk  N.  Council. 

RESOLVED  by  the  National  Committee 
and  Council,  That  the  salaries  of  the 
persons  attached  to  the  Cherokee  Phoenix 
shall  be  paid  quarterly.  This  to  be  an 
amendment  to  the  resolution  providing 
for  their  salaries,  dated  Oct.  i8th,  1827. 

Be  it  further  RESOLVED,  That,  in  or 
der  to  provide  against  inconvenience  that 
may  arise  for  want  of  paper,  ink,  or  other 
articles  requisite  in  the  printing  depart 
ment,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Editor  to 
provide  from  time  to  time,  the  necessary 
articles  as  may  be  needed,  which  shall 


46  LITERATURE. 

be  defrayed   out  of  the  proceeds   of  the 
Cherokee   Phoenix. 

Be  it  further  RESOLVED,  That,  the  Ed 
itor  of  the  Phoenix  be,  and  he  is  hereby 
required  to  enter  into  bond  with  sufficient 
security  for  the  faithful  performance  of 
all  his  duties ;  and  that  said  Editor  be 
and  is  hereby  authorised  to  receive  all 
monies  that  may  arise  from  subscriptions 
for  the  Phoenix,  or  from  the  publication 
of  any  other  matter  ;  he  is  also  expressly 
empowered  to  use  his  discretion  in  every 
respect,  in  order  that  the  Nation  may  be 
benefited  by  the  institution.  All  monies 
arising  from  the  Phoenix  shall  be  paid 
into  the  Treasury  of  the  Cherokee  Na 
tion,  quarterly. 

Be  it  further  RESOLVED,  That  in  case 
of  the  sickness  of  the  Editor,  death  or 
resignation,  the  Principal  Chief  shall 
have  the  power  of  appointing  a  suitable 
Editor  to  take  charge 'of  the  paper  in  the 
editorial  department  whose  salary  shall 
be  the  same  as  his  predecessor's. 


LITERATURE.  47 

It  is  further  RESOLVED,  that,  in  case 
of  sickness,  death,  or  resignation  of  the 
Printers,  the  place  or  places  so  vacated 
shall  be  filled  by  the  Principal  Chiefs. 
The  salaries  shall  be  the  same  as  the 
former  printers.  And  in  order  to  have  a 
native  printer,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the 
Editor  to  procure,  if  possible,  a  Chero- 
.  kee  apprentice,  whose  clothes  and  board 
shall  be  paid  out  of  the  proceeds  of  the 
Cherokee  Phoenix.  The  clothing  of  the 
apprentice  shall  be  common  and  comfor 
table.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Editor 
to  engage,  and  make  arrangements  of 
said  apprentice's  board.  In  the  selection 
of  the  apprentice,  the  Editor  is  required 
to  choose  one  who  speaks  and  writes  the 
same  dialect  with  the  inventor  of  the 
Cherokee  Alphabet. 

New  Echota,  I9th  October,  1828. 
ELIJAH  HICKS,  Pres't  N.  Com. 
MAJOR  RIDGE,  Speaker. 
Approved— WM.  HICKS, 
JNO.  ROSS. 

A.  McCOY,  Clerk  of  Com. 

E.  BOUDINOTT,  Clerk  N.  Council. 


48  LITERATURE. 

On  February  2ist,  1828,  not  five  years 
alter  Se-quo-yah's  alphabet  had  been  ac 
cepted  by  this  nation,  an  iron  printing 
press  of  improved  construction  and  fonts 
of  Cherokee  and  English  type,  together 
with  the  entire  furniture  of  a  printing  of 
fice  was  put  up  at  new  Echota,  and  the 
first  copy  of  the  "  Cherokee  Phoenix" 
was  given  to  the  world.  It  was  the  ave 
rage  size  of  the  newspapers  of  that  day, 
and  one-fourth  of  it  was  printed  in  the 
Se-quo-yan  alphabet,  and  all  this  at  the 
order  of  the  Cherokee  Council.  This 
printing  press  was  the  first  one  owned 
by  any  aborigines  of  this  continent.  It 
was  owned  by  citizens,  who  of  all  the 
natives  of  this  continent  were  the  first  to 
invent  and  use  an  alphabet  of  their  own, 
and  indeed,  it  was  the  first  aborigines 
alphabet  that  had  been  invented  for 
over  a  thousand  years,  arid  more  than 
this,  they  presented  to  the  world  the 
most  perfect  orthography  that  this  world 
has  ever  seen.  It  was  presided  over  by 
Elias  Boudinot,  the  first  aborigines  editor 


LITERATURE.  49 

of  this  continent,  though  he  was  aided 
often  in  his  editorial  work  by  the  mis 
sionaries  of  the  American  Board.  The 
Phoenix  was  the  average  size  of  the  news 
papers  of  that  day,  and  one-half  of  it 
was  printed  in  the  Se-quo-yan  alphabet. 
Some  time  before  the  first  issue  was 
printed  a  prospectus  was  sent  out.  "The 
great  object  of  the  Phoenix,"  said  the 
prospectus,  "will  be  to  benefit  the  Cher- 
okees,  and  the  following  subjects  will 
occupy  the  columns  :  ist,  laws  and  pub 
lic  documents  of  the  nation;  2nd,  ac 
counts  of  the  manners  and  customs  of  the 
Cherokees,  and  their  progress  in  educa 
tion,  religion  and  arts  of  civilized  life, 
with  such  notices  of  other  Indians  as  our 
limited  means  of  information  will  allow  ; 
3d,  the  principal  interesting  events  of 
the  day  ;  4th,  miscellaneous  articles  cal 
culated  to  promote  literature,  civilization 
and  religion  among  the  Cherokees." 
Such  were  the  topics  that  were  printed, 
and  that  Se-quo-yah  read  in  letters  of 
his  own  invention  in  the  columns  of  the 


50  LITERATURE. 

Phoenix  within  two  years  /  of  the  accep 
tance  of  the  alphabet  by  the  nation. 
Probably  no  paper  yet  printed  was  re 
ceived  with  such  profound  wonder  by 
the  world  as  this.  Copies  were  in  de 
mand  from  all  parts  of  the  country,  and 
the  London  Times  exchanged  with  it  on 
equal  terms. 

In  the  fall  of  1828  the  Council  passed 
the  following  : 

Resolved  by  the  National  Committee 
and  Council,  in  General  Council  Con 
vened,  That  the  Editor  of  the  Cherokee 
Phoenix  be,  and  is  hereby,  required  to 
keep  a  correct  and  exact  account  of  all 
contingent  expenses  attending  the  print 
ing  establishment,  and  that  it  shall  be 
his  duty,  at  the  commencement  of  each 
session  of  the  General  Council,  to  make 
a  detailed  report  of  the  amount  of  mon 
eys  received  on  account  of  the  establish 
ment,  also  of  the  disbursements  made, 
the  number  of  subscribers  to  the  Phoenix, 
and  the  amount  due  on  account  of  sub 
scriptions. 


LITERATURE.  51 

Be  it  further  resolved,  That  the  Editor 
shall  select  another  Cherokee  youth  of 
good  qualities  and  capacity,  who  will 
agree,  with  the  consent  of  his  parents 
or  guardians,  to  serve  as  an  apprentice 
to  the  printing  business,  and  for  a  length 
of  time  so  as  to  enable  said  apprentice 
to  become  master  of  the  art  of  Printing, 
and  that  the  said  apprentice  shall  be 
clothed  and  boarded  in  the  same  man 
ner  as  is  provided  by  law  for  the  appren 
tice  now  in  service,  at  the  public  expense. 

Be  it  further  resolved,  That  the  Editor 
be,  and  he  is  hereby  required,  to  withhold 
from  the  columns  of  the  Phoenix,  scurri 
lous  communications  which  may  have  a 
tendency  to  excite  and  irritate  personal 
controversies,  also,  he  shall  not  support 
or  cherish,  by  publishing  communica 
tions,  or  by  inserting  under  the  Editorial 
head,  any  thing  on  religious  matters,  that 
will  savour  sectarianism  :  It  shall  also  be 
his  duty  to  collect  as  much  original  Cher 
okee  matter  for  the  columns  of  the  paper, 
as  his  situation  and  abilities  shall  enable 


52  LITERATURE. 

him  to   do,  and  to  have  the    manuscript 
laws  printed  in  a  pamphlet  form    and  at 
tach  to  the  printed  laws   as  early  as  prac 
tical,  and  to  have  an  index  to  the  same. 
New  Echota,  ipthNov.,  1828. 

LEWIS  ROSS,  Pres't  Com. 
Concurred— GOING  SNAKE,   Speaker. 
Approved— JNO.  ROSS. 

The  publication  of  the  Phoenix  seemed 
to  be  the  key  to  unlock  the  intellectual 
faculties  of  the  nation.  On  the  November 
following  the  February  on  which  the  first 
copy  of  the  Phoenix  was  published,  a 
missionary  wrote  from  among  them  that 
it  was  his  opinion  that  at  least  three- 
fourths  of  the  Che  rokees  could  read  and 
write  in  their  new  alphabet.  Publications 
in  their  new  alphabet  were  eagerly  sought 
after.  "Their  enthusiasm  is  kindled," 
wrote  Mr.  Worcester  at  this  time;  "great 
numbers  have  learned  to  read  and  write, 
they  are  circulating  hymns  and  portions 
of  the  scripture,  they  are  eagerly  anticipa 
ting  the  time  when  they  can  read  the 
white  man's  Bible  in  their  own  language." 


LITERATURE.  53 

Within  five  years  of  the  adoption  of  the 
Se-quo-yan  alphabet,  the  press  at  New 
Echota  had  turned  off  733,800  pages  of 
good  reading,  which  was  eagerly  read  and 
re-read  by  the  Cherokees.  Two  years  after 
the  number  had  increased  to  1,513,800 
pages,  and  before  Se-quo-yah's  death  in 
1842  more  than  4,000,000  pages  of  good 
literature  had  been  printed  in  the  new 
alphabet,  and  not  including  the  circula 
tion  of  the  Phoenix.  As  early  as  1830, 
this  pioneer  paper  began  to  forecast  the 
doom  that  was  inevitably  to  follow.  Even 
the  Cherokees  had  given  up  all  hope  of 
receiving  justice  from  the  hands  of  our 
government.  February  iQth,  1831,  the 
Phoenix  appeared  with  only  a  half  sheet. 
"The  reason  is,"  said  an  editorial,  "one  of 
our  printers  has  left  us,  and  we  expect 
another,  who  is  a  white  man,  to  quit  us 
very  soon,  or  to  be  dragged  to  the  Geor 
gia  penitentiary  for  a  term  of  not  less 
than  four  years,  or  for  his  personal  safety 
to  leave  the  nation  to  let  us  shift  for  our 
selves.  But  we  will  not  give  up  the  ship 
while  she  is  afloat.  We  have  intelligent 


54  LITERATURE. 

youth  enough  in  the  nation,  and  we  hope 
before  long  to  make  up  our  loss.  Let  our 
patrons  bear  in  mind  that  we  are  in  the 
woods,  and  as  is  said  by  many,  in  a  savage 
country,  where  printers  are  not  plenty, 
and  therefore  they  must  not  expect  to 
receive  the  Phoenix  regularly  for  awhile, 
but  we  will  do  the  best  we  can."  One 
month  later  another  printer  was  carried 
away  to  prison,  his  only  misdemeanor  be 
ing  that  he  was  a  white  man  .without  hav 
ing  taken  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the 
Governor  of  Georgia,  who  dared  to  reside 
within  the  limits  of  the  Cherokees.  In 
June,  1832,  the  Phoenix  remarked,  "The 
gigantic  silver  pipe  which  George  Wash 
ington  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  Chero 
kees  as  a  memorial  of  his  warm  and  abi 
ding  friendship  has  ceased  to  reciprocate; 
it  lies  in  a  corner,  cold,  like  its  author, 
to  rise  no  more."  Only  three  years  more 
was  the  Phoenix  allowed  to  do  its  good 
work.  In  October,  1835,  the  Georgia 
Guard  took  possession  of  the  newspaper 
establishment,  and  its  further  issue  was 
prohibited  unless  it  would  uphold  the 


LITERATURE.  55 

course  of  Georgia  against  the  Indians. 
Thus  perished  one  of  the  most  remarka 
ble  newspapers,  both  in  its  origin  and  re 
sults,  that  America  has  ever  known.  But, 
if  the  newspaper  died  inglorious!)/,  far 
more  so  was  the  fate  of  the  editor,  Elias 
Boudinot.  In  his  early  days  he  was  a  very 
promising  lad,  who  attracted  the  attention 
of  missionaries.  His  name  was  Weite,  but 
he  was  given  the  name  of  Elias  Boudinot 
after  the  Governor  of  New  Jersey,  and  the 
President  of  the  American  Bible  Society, 
for  it  was  the  custom  for  a  Cherokee  youth 
to  be  given  an  English  name  when  he  en 
tered  an  English  school.  Elias  Boudinot 
was  one  of  those  placed  in  the  mission 
school  at  Cornwall,  Conn.  He  was  good 
looking,  and  at  last,  by  his  pleasing  address 
and  manner,  became  welcomed  at  the 
home  of  many  of  the  first  families  in  that 
quiet  village.  Among  the  lively  maidens 
of  the  place  was  Hattie  Gold.  She  was  in 
all  respects  a  sprightly  lass,  the  village  pet, 
and  given  vsomewhat  to  romantic  ideas. 
The  young  Indian  was  frequently  received 
at  her  father's  house,  and,  unthought  of 


56  LITERATURE. 

by  the  parents,  a  mutual  attachment 
sprang  up  which  ripened  into  love,  and  it 
was  not  long  before  the  little  town  of 
Cornwall  wras  stirred  to  a  fever  heat  by 
the  announcement  that  Hattie  had  plight 
ed  troth  with  Boudinot.  Her  parents 
were  fierce  in  their  opposition,  but  tears 
and  entreaties  were  of  no  avail,  and  the 
words  were  spoken  that  linked  their  for 
tunes  for  life.  Taking  his  bride  back  to 
Georgia,  he  dwelt  among  his  tribe  hap 
pily  with  his  white  bride,  and  was 
conspicuous  among  his  people  as  a 
scholar,  and  one  favored  by  the  Great 
Spirit.  His  life  was  a  busy  one,  as  he 
aided  the  missionaries  in  their  work, 
translating  portions  of  the  Scriptures, 
tracts  and  hymns.  During  the  adminis 
tration  of  Andrew  Jackson,  he  took  a 
prominent  place  in  administering  the  af 
fairs  of  the  Cherokees,  and  especially, 
toward  the  last,  took  a  leading  part  in 
making  arrangements  for  his  people  to 
emigrate  irom  the  Land  they  loved  so 
well.  Precious  to  these  sons  of  the  for- 


LITERATURE.  57 

est  were  their  homes,  and  the  burial  pla 
ces  of  their  fathers.  While  a  few  favor 
ed  the  treaty  of  1835,  the  majority  did 
not.  It  is  a  matter  of  historical  record 
that  the  Ridges,  Boudinot,  Bell,  Rogers 
and  others,  who  signed  the  treaty,  very 
suddenly  changed  their  minds  in  respect 
to  the  policy  of  removal.  They  had  been 
as  forward  as  any  of  the  opposite  party 
in  protesting  against  the  acts  of  Georgia, 
and  as  much  opposed  to  making  any 
treaty  or  sale  of  their  own  country,  up  to 
the  time  of  the  mission  ofSchermerhorn, 
as  any  in  the  nation.  But  they  suddenly 
changed  their  mind,  and  they  were  sus 
pected  of  treachery,  bribery  and  corrup 
tion,  and  the  worst  passion  of  the  oppo 
sition  was  aroused,  and  on  June  22, 
1839,  these  men  were  assassinated.  Mr. 
Boudinot  was  decoyed  away  from  the 
house  he  was  erecting,  a  short  distance 
from  his  residence,  and  then  set  upon 
with  knives  and  hatchets,  and  survived 
his  wounds  just  long  enough  for  his  wife 
and  friends  to  reach  him,  though  he  was 

£5 


58  LITERATURE. 

speechless  and  insensible  to  all  around 
him.  Thus  perished  the  first  aboriginal 
editor  of  this  continent.  Whether  he 
and  his  comrades  did  betray  their  coun 
trymen  for  gain  cannot  now  be  deter 
mined,  but  it  hardly  appears  possible 
that  one  who  had  served  his  country  so 
faithfully,  should  at  that  late  day  have 
betrayed  his  people  for  gain,  or  with 
traitorous  intent.  Indeed,  a  careful  read 
er  of  history  must  feel,  that  while  he 
acted  not  according  to  the  will  of  many, 
he  acted  to  what  he  thought  would  be 
their  future  welfare,  and  even  Chief  Ross 
of  the  opposing  faction,  deeply  regretted 
this  hasty  execution.  Let  the  mantle  of 
charity  surround  the  memory  of  our  first 
aboriginal  editor.  Let  us  not  believe 
him  a  traitor  to  the  people  whom  he  had 
long  served ;  let  us  revere  his  memory 
for  the  great  work  he  was  enabled  to  do 
toward  the  enlightenment  of  the  early 
Cherokees.  For  a  long  time  there  were 
no  further  attempts  at  journalism  among 
the  Cherokees.  The  years  succeeding 


LITERATURE.  59 

1835  were  years  of  affliction  to  this  race. 
Driven  out  from  their  land  by  the  bayo 
net  of  the  white  man,  they  were  obliged 
to  take  the  long  journey  to  their  western 
home,  and  during  the  removal  nearly 
4000  of  their  race  perished.  The  follow 
ing  years  were  spent  in  recuperating  and 
reorganizing,  and  it  was  not  until  1844 
that  the  nation  assumed  the  publication 
of  another  paper.  In  1843  the  Baptist 
Mission  started  a  paper  called  the  Cher 
okee  Messenger,  that  for  some  years  did 
an  important  work  in  the  Cherokee  Na 
tion.  A  decade  of  years  had  indeed 
brought  about  a  great  change  in  the  con 
dition  of  the  Cherokee  people.  The  mis 
sion  press  had  continued  to  do  its  noble 
work,  and  when  the  national  council  had 
their  new  press  in  running  order,  three 
separate  printing  offices  were  running 
within  the  Cherokee  Nation.  The  Coun 
cil  called  their  new  paper  the  Cherokee 
Advocate. 

§    27.    THE  ADVOCATE. 

"•The  object  of  the  council  in  providing 


60  LITERATURE. 

for  the  publication  of  the  Advocate,'"'  said 
an  editorial  in  the  first  issue,  "is  the 
physical,  moral  and  intellectual  improve 
ment  of  the  Cherokee  people.  It  will  be 
devoted  to  these  ends,  and  to  the  defence 
of  those  rights  recognized  as  belonging 
to  them  in  treaties  legally  made  at  diffe 
rent  times  with  the  United  States,  and  of 
such  measures  as  seem  best  calculated 
to  secure  their  peace  and  happiness,  pro 
mote  their  prosperity,  and  elevate  their 
character  as  a  distinct  community."  Re 
alizing  their  need  of  assistance  outside 
of  the  nation,  they  called  for  patronage 
from  the  citizens  of  the  United  States. 
It  promised  to  be  an  enlightener  of  pub 
lic  sentiment,  as  far  as  possible,  as  to  the 
feelings,  wishes  and  proper  expectations 
of  the  Cherokees.  "For, "said  the  open 
ing  debut,  "ignorance  of  their  condition, 
opinions  and  claims,  has  been  to  them  a 
fountain  of  many  wrongs,  a  fountain 
from  which  they  have  been  forced  to 
drink  many  bitter  draughts.  From  this 
cause,  measures  of  policy  in  themselves 


LITERATURE.  6l 

unjust  and  highly  destructive  to  their 
peace  and  prospects,  have  been  con 
ceived  and  persisted  in  to  their  accom 
plishment,  with  singular  pertinacity,  by 
those  from  whom  they  have  a  right  to 
expect  and  claim  protection."  The  exec 
utive  department  of  the  Cherokee  Na 
tion  has  among  its  archives  copies  of  the 
Advocate  from  October,  1845,  to  No 
vember,  1846,  but  it  continued  to  be 
printed  until  1853  or  1854,  wnen  it  was 
suspended.  It  did  not  attract  the  atten 
tion  the  Phoenix  did,  as  the  novelty  of 
Cherokee  journalism  had  subsided,  and 
the  nation  was  further  removed  from  the 
centers  of  civilization. 

The  present  Cherokee  Advocate  was 
established  in  1870,  and  is  the  official 
organ  of  the  nation  ;  it  has  for  its  object 
the  diffusion  of  important  news  among 
the  Cherokee  people  ;  the  advancement 
of  their  general  interests,  and  the  de 
fence  of  Indian  rights ;  it  is  published 
weekly  in  the  English  and  Cherokee 
languages,  and  nothing  of  a  personal, 


62  LITERATURE. 

abusive  or  partisan  character,  is  admit 
ted  to  its  columns.  Since  Feb.  loth, 
1881,  the  editor  has  been  required  to 
have  one  whole  page  of  the  paper  pub 
lished  in  Cherokee,  and  for  this  purpose 
he  is  authorized  to  employ  two  Cherokee 
boys  as  apprentices,  for  a  term  of  two 
years,  who  read  and  write  Cherokee 
and  English,  and  pay  them  during  the 
time  a  sum  equal  only  to  the  cost  of  their 
board  and  clothes,  and  the  bill  for  their 
services  is  paid  quarterly,  by  order  on 
the  treasury  of  the  nation.  The  editor  is 
elected  by  joint  vote  of  both  branches  of 
the  National  Council,  and  receives  from 
the  public  treasury  the  sum  of  $600  per 
annum  for  his  services.  It  is  the  duty  of 
the  editor  to  exercise  control  over  the 
establishment,  to  furnish  such  matter  for 
publication,  from  time  to  time,  as  in  his 
judgment  will  promote  the  object  of  the 
institution.  He  must  see  that  the  materi 
al  and  property  of  the  concern  is  proper 
ly  preserved  and  economically  used  ;  he 
receives  the  subscription  moneys  at  the 


LITERATURE.  63 

rates  fixed  by  law,  but  himself  fixes  the 
rates  of  advertising,  excepting  such  ad 
vertising  as  may  be  furnished  by  the  offi 
cers  of  the  nation,  or  provided  by  law  ; 
he  makes  quarterly  accounts  to  the  treas 
urer,  and  an  annual  one  to  the  Principal 
Chief,  for  the  information  of  the  Nation 
al  Council,  of  the  condition  of  the  paper 
and  its  interests,  with  an  itemized  -ac 
count  of  its  receipts  and  expenditures.  It 
is  his  duty  also  to  print  and  deliver, 
within  a  reasonable  time,  to  the  Princi 
pal  Chief,  such  laws  and  treaties,  as  may 
be  required  by  the  National  Council : 
also  the  blanks  required  by  the  officers 
of  the  nation,  and  such  other  printing 
as  may  be  required  in  public  service. 
Before  entering  upon  his  duties  he  is  re 
quested  to  fill  a  bond  of  a  nature  to  satis 
fy  the  Principal  Chief.  The  Principal 
Chief  also  employs  a  translator,  whose 
duty  it  is  to  translate  into  the  Cherokee 
language  for  publication,  suchlaws, pub 
lic  documents  and  articles,  as  the  editor 
shall  select  for  his  paper.  He  receives 


64  LITERATURE. 

$400  per  annum  for  his  services,  and 
like  the  editor,  is  subject  to  removal  by 
the  Principal  Chief  for  improper  conduct, 
or  failure  to  perform  prescribed  duties. 
Though  the  Advocate  is  an  eight  wide 
column  folio,  it  is  furnished  by  the  order 
of  the  nation  at  one  dollar  per  annum, 
payable  in  money,  national  warrants  or 
certificates,  but  is  sent  free  to  subscribers 
who  read  only  Cherokee. 

The  present  Cherokee  Advocate  is  des 
tined  to  be  a  permanent  institution  among 
them,  or  should,  at  least,  until  the  great 
majority  of  them  have  an  English  educa 
tion,  though  the  reasons  whrv  the  nation 
should  have  an  organ  will  be  as  strong 
then  as  now,  should  the  Cherokees  con 
tinue  to  hold  their  country  in  common. 
The  paper  isably  conducted  by  Cornel 
ius  Boudinot,  who  is  a  grandson  of  Elias 
Boudinot,  the  first  Cherokee  editor,  and 
has  J.  L.  Springston  as  translator. 

§28.    VINIT  A  JOURNAL  ISM. 

Several  attempts  have  been  made  at 
Vinita  toward  journalism.  The  earliest 


LITERATURE.  65 

paper  was  the  "Vidett,"  which  was  fol 
lowed  by  the  "Herald."  The  "Indian 
Chieftain  was  started  by  Ivy  &  Rogers, 
Sep.  22.1882.  On  Feb.  9,  1883,  the 
paper  wrent  into  the  hands  of  R.  L.  Owen 
and  Wm.  Hollensworth.  May  nth  of 
the  same  year,  it  changed  hands  again, 
the  firm  being  Owen  &  Sweasy.  Sept. 
14,  1883,  Wm.  P.  Ross  and  Rev.  J«  W. 
Scroggs  were  announced  as  publishers; 
July  ist,  1884,  S.  J.Thompson  and  M.E. 
Milford  took  the  paper;  Jan.  1st,  1886, 
John  L.  Adair  became  editor,  and  with 
Mr.  Milford  is  making  an  excellent  pa 
per. 

§29.   UN  I  ON  PRESS. 

As  time  passed  on,  it  appeared  best  to 
abandon  the  Ossage  mission  buildings  at 
Union,  and  it  was  decided  to  fit  up  a  por 
tion  of  them  fora  printing  establishment, 
where  they  might  print  tracts  and  books,, 
in  Cherokee,  Choctaw,  Creek  and  Ossage 
languages.  This  movement  was  proposed 
in  1832,  and  was  carried  out  the  follow 
ing  year.  The  location  was  at  the  Forks 


66  LITERATU  RE. 

of  the  Illinois  River,  and  it  was  decided 
to  remove  the  press  to  a  more  elevated 
and  healthy  place,  called  Park  Hill,  situa 
ted  a  few  miles  away.  The  removal  took 
place  on  December  2nd,  1836.  The  influ 
ence  of  this  press  on  the  nation,  like  that 
at  New  Echota,  had  a  wonderful  effect  in 
spreading  abroad  the  seeds  of  civilization, 
which  germinated  quickly,  and  brought 
forth  fruit  in  abundance. 

§  30.  BAPTIST  MISSION  PRESS. 
This  mission  was  located  at  Cherokee, 
three  miles  west  of  the  boundary  of  Ar 
kansas,  and  the  portion  of  the  nation  who 
were  connected  with  it  in  1841,  resided 
within  a  circuit  of  forty  miles  on  the  north, 
the  west  and  south.  In  the  autumn  of 
1843,  tne  mission  was  furnished  with  a 
press  and  printing  establishment,  which 
added  greatly  to  its  efficiency  and  its  in 
fluence  with  the  nation.  It  was  intrusted 
to  the  management  of  Mr.  H.  Upham,  a 
printer  by  trade,  and  at  the  same  time 
Rev.  W.  P.  Upham  became  associated 
with  Rev.  Evan  Jones,  who  presided  over 


LITERATURE.  67 

the  mission,  in  preaching,  arid  in  care  of 
the  churches  and  stations.  At  this  press 
the  bock  of  Genesis  and  about  half  the 
books  of  the  New  Testament  were  print 
ed  in  Cherokee,  together  with  a  number 
of  school  books,  tracts,  and  other  relig 
ious  works.  A  periodical  known  as  the 
Cherokee  Messenger  was  commenced  by' 
Mr.  Upham  in  1844,  and  was  continued 
for  many  years,  by  members  of  the  mis 
sion.  On  this  press  was  printed  Bunyan's 
Pilgrims  Progress  in  Se-quo-yah's  alpha 
bet. 

§  30.  PARK  HILL  PRESS. 
The  Park  Hill  press  was  first  in  charge 
of  Messrs.  Archer  and  Candy.  In  1851 
the  Gospel  of  Luke  was  added  to  the  por 
tions  of  scripture  issued  from  the  press  of 
Park  Hill.  Up  to  that  time,  this  press  had 
printed  the  Gospels  of  Matthew,  Luke 
and  John,  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  the 
Epistle  to  Timothy,  the  epistles  of  James, 
Peter  and  John.  The  first  five  and  two 
last  chapters  of  Revelations,  and  from  the 
Old  Testament  three  chapters  of  Genesis, 


68  LITERATURE. 

twenty-two  Psalms,  and  twelve  select 
chapters  of  the  Prophecy  of  Isaiah,  a  total 
of  600,000  pages,  mostly  in  the  Se-quo- 
yan  alphabet. 

§  31.  THE  DWIGHT  MISSION  PRESS. 
From  1862  to  1886,  there  was  no  relig 
ious  literature  published  in  Cherokee.  For 
a  long  time  Rev.  A.  N.  Chamberlin  had 
been  translating  passages  of  Scripture, 
hitherto  untranslated,  and  several  hymns 
into  Cherokee,  but  there  was  no  way  to 
get  them  into  print.  But  at  last,  Miss 
Delia  Palmer  presented  to  the  Presbytery 
of  the  Indian  Territory  a  little  printing 
press,  for  the  purpose  of  sending  forth  lit 
tle  tracts  and  leaflets,  specially  adapted 
to  the  wants  of  the  people  in  the  vicinity 
where  published.  In  August,  1886,  Rev. 
Nicholas  Neerken  started  on  this  minia 
ture  press  the  D  wight  Mission  Witness,  a 
two  page  paper,  on  a  sheet  6x9.  There 
was  not  type  enough  of  a  kind  at  the  first 
issue  to  print  one  side  of  the  paper.  Like 
the  Cherokee  Phoenix  and  the  Advocate, 
one-fourth  was  printed  in  Cherokee.  Not 
2  presented  a  better  appearance  There. 


LITERATURE.  69 

were  Bible  selections  translated  by  Rev. 
A.  N.  Chamberlin,  and  the  hymns  "Coro 
nation"  and  "Hold  the  Fort,"  translated 
by  the  same  person.  In  No.  3,  the  editor 
rejoiced  at  a  new  case  of  type.  It  was  the 
gift  of  friends.  The  Presbyterian  church 
at  Clifton,  Kansas,  gave  sixteen  dollars, 
and  considerable  was  contributed  from 
various  sources,  and  the  Dwight  Mission 
Witness,  Kedron,  Cherokee  Nation,  was 
made  a  success,  and  continues  printing 
Mr.  Chamberlin's  translations  of  Scripture, 
hymns,  etc.,  into  Cherokee. 


NOTE. 

In  the  following  pages  is  the  first  at 
tempt  yet  made  toward  a  Cherokee  Bib 
liography.  Itisinno  way  a  complete  one, 
and  perhaps  should  rather  be  called  a 
beginning  of  a  Bibliography  or  a  collec 
tion  of  facts  about  certain  Cherokee  pub 
lications,  and  works  pertaining  to  this 
Indian  people.  In  regard  to  some  publi 
cations  we  have  been  unable  to  make 
more  than  a  mere  mention,  for  much  of 
the  then  existing  Cheroke  e  literature  was 
lost  during  the  war.  The  increase  in 
their  literature  today  is  largely  confined 
to  their  newspapers  and  public  docu 
ments,  very  little  else  being  printed  for 
them.  We  have  also  indexed  a  few  lead 
ing  articles  from  such  copies  of  the  Ad 
vocate  as  we  have  on  file.  It  is  the  hope 
of  the  author,  now  that  attention  is  called 
to  the  matter,  that  they  will  soon  collect 
and  preserve  for  themselves,  and  give 
to  the  world,  a  more  perfect  Bibliography 
than  is  possible  for  a  white  man  to  make, 
who  lives  outside  their  Nation. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

OF 

THE    CHEROKEES. 

Cherokee  Dictionary,  (Mss.  edition.) by 
Rev.  S.  A.  Worcester.  This  was 
lost  on  the  Arkansas. 

Cherokee  Geography,  in  part,  (Mss.  edi 
tion.)  Abandoned  by  the  author, 
Rev.  S.  A.  Worcester,  when  he 
saw  it  would  take  too  much  time 
from  his  Bible  work. 

Cherokee  Grammar,  (Mss.  edition)  S. 
A.  Worcester.  Sunken  the  emi 
gration  steamer  on  the  Arkansas. 


2  BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Primer.    1839,    P^'k    Hill  ;  edition  1,500. 

Matthew,  Gospel  of:  pp.  124.  New  Echo- 
ta,  1829.  Translated  by  Worcester 
&  Boudinot.  200  copies  used  by 
Rev.  Evan  Jones. 

Matthew,  2nd  edition,  pp.  124  ;  edition 
3,000;  (1833.) 

Matthew,  3d  edition,  pp.  124;  edition  of 
3,000.  (1834.) 

Matthew,  4th  edition,  pp.  120  :  Park  Hill, 
John  Candy,  printer,  edition  500  ; 

• 


Mark,  1844,  pp.  70;  E.  Archer,  printer; 
Edition  5000. 

Luke,  1850  ;  pp  133  ;  printed  at  Park  Hill 
Edition   1,500. 

John,  1839,  printed  at  Park  Hill.  pp.  101. 
Edition  1,500. 

John,  ]       2d  edition. 

John,      [  ]       3d  edition. 

John,      1854,    4th     edition  ;  E.     Archer, 
printer,  pp.  93. 

Acts,  by  Worcester  &  Boudinot,  pp.  124. 
1834  5  edition  3000. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  3 

Philemon,      [  ]      S.A.Worcester. 

Titus.  [  ]    S.  A.  Worcester. 

Hebrews,  in  part,  S.  A.  Worcester. 

Scripture  Extracts,  1831,  by  Worcester 
&  Boudinot,  pp.  124  ;  edition  3000. 

Scripture  Extracts,  1834;  2nd.  edition, 
pp.  124;  edition  3,000. 

Scripture,  Select  passages  of ;  1836,  pp. 
24.  Edition,  5000.  Union  Press. 

New  Testament,  portions  of.  Mss.  Trans 
lated  by  David  Brown  in  1825,  by 
order  of  the  Nation. 

New  Testament,  by  Rev.  Evan  Jones, 
and  native  .assistants;  translation 
commenced  in  1842  and  complet 
ed  in  '47.  Printed  in  1848. 

Old  and  New  Testament,  portions  of, 
American  Bible  Society. 

New  Testament,  1850,  E.  Archer,  print 
er,  Park  Hill. 

New  Testament  1860,  American  Bible 
Society. 

New  Testament  (complete)  1862.  Amer 
ican  Bible  Societv.  Edition  10,000. 


4  BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Cherokee  Hymns,  1829,    1st  edition,  New 
Echota.  52  pp.  33  hymns.     Edition 
800.  Worcester  &  Boudinot. 
2d    edition,     36    pp.    edition    2000, 
1830. 

3d  edition,    1832,    pp.    36;    edition, 
1,750. 

4th  edition,  1836. pp.  48; 
5th  edition,  Union  press,  1848. 

Cherokee  Hymn  Book,  American  Bap 
tist  Publication  Society.  Eight 
editions. 

Oct.  2,  1866,  looo 

Apr.  7,     '67.  1000 

"  29,     '69,  300 

Jan.    3.     '74,  500 

6,     '77,  250 

June  14,    '78,  400 

July  18,     '82,  250 

Feb.  19,    '84,  250 

Church  Litany  of  the  United  Brethren  ; 
prepared  and  printed  by  the  Mis 
sionaries  of  the  American  Board, 
at  expense  of  United  Brethren ; 
pp.  12.  Edition  300  copies. 

Profession  of  Faith  and  Covenant  of  the 
Church  of  Park  Hill,  1837,  by  S. 
A.  Worcester.  Another  edition  in 
1848. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  5 

C  herokee  Alphabet,  lithographed,  trans 
lated  and  written  in  large  charac 
ters  with  Roman  letters  indicating 
the  sound  of  syllables  ;  in  board 
sheets.  Boston,  1835.  Edition  300. 

Cards,  lithographed ;  translated  and  writ 
ten  in  Cherokee     by   Mr.   Hitch 
cock  of  Dwight.   1835. 
Ten  Commandments,  edition  300. 
Fourth  Commandment,  300. 

Eighth  Commandment,  300. 

Prodigal  son  (cuts)  300. 

Star  of  the  East,  300. 

John  preaching  in  wilderness,  300. 

Cherokee  Spelling  Book,  in  Roman  let 
ters.  Prepared  by  Rev.  D.  S. 
Butrick. 

Cherokee  Almanack.  1836 — 56.  Union 
and  Park  Hill  press.  1836  edition 
450,  pp.  16.  S.  A.  Worcester. 

Arithmetic,  prepared  by  order  of  the 
National  Council :  Tahlequah, 
1870. 

Cherokee  Indian  History,  pages  from,  as 
identified  with  S.  A.  Worcester, 
by  Miss  Nevada  Couch,  of  Worces 
ter  Academy,  Vinita,  C.  N.  pp.  27. 
Printed  in  English,  1884. 


O  BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Laws  of  Cherokee  Nation,  1826.  Trans 
lated  into  Sequoyan  character  by 
David  Brown  and  Geo.  Low- 
rey  ;  compensation  paid  for  trans 
lating,  $72. 
English  edition  of  same. 

Constitution  of  Cherokee  Nation,  1828. 
Large  pamphlet  size. 

Journal  of  the  two  branches  of  the  Coun 
cil  of  1829.  Translated  into  Se 
quoyan  alphabet  by  Mr.  Edward 
Graves.  Printed  also  in  the  Phoe 
nix.  Translator  and  printer  re 
ceived  50  cents  per  day  while  in 
actual  business  during  the  session 
of  the  General  Court. 

Laws  passed  during  the  years  1839 — 67, 
compiled  by  authority  of  the    Na 
tional  Council.  St.    Louis  Demo 
crat    print.   Edition  200. 
English  edition  500. 

Laws.   1844,  edition  500. 

English  edition,  the  same. 

Laws  of  1847-8-9.  Edition  200;  publish 
ed  at  $1.50  per  vol. 
English  edition,  the  same. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  7 

Laws,  adopted  by  the  Council  at  various 
periods.  Printed  for  the  benefit  of 
the  Nation  at  Cherokee  Advocate 
office,  Tahlequah,  1852. 

Constitution  and  Laws  passed  at  Tahle 
quah  1839 — 51*  Tahlequah,  1852. 
English  edition  of  same. 

Laws  compiled  and  published  by  author 
ity  of  National  Council.    National 
Advocate  print.   1881.  pp.    335. 
English  edition  pp.  370  ;     editions 
1000  each. 

Laws  and  Joint  Resolutions  of  the  Chero 
kee  Nation,  enacted  during  the 
regular  and  special  sessions  of  the 
years  1881 — 2 — 3.  E.  C.  Boudi- 
not,  Printer,  Tahlequah,  1884. 
Edition  500.  English  edition,  500. 

Genesis.  Translatedby  Rev.  Jesse  Bushy- 
head,  the  father  of  Chief  D.  W. 
Bushyhead . 

Thessalonians.     (  )  S.  A.  Worces 

ter. 

Pilgrims  Progress,  Translated  and  print 
ed  under  the  auspices  of  the  Bap 
tist  Mission. 


8  BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Tracts,  "Swiss  Peasant."  (1848.)  Mis 
sion  Press,  p'p.  1 6.  Edition  5000. 
E.  Archer,  printer. 

"Negro  Servant."  (1848.)  Park 
Hill  Press,  pp.  40.  Edition,  5000. 

"One  Thing  Needful"  (1848.)  pp. 
8.  Edition  5000.  E.  Archer,  prin 
ter. 

"Poor  Sarah"  (1833.)  pp.  12. 
Edition  3,300.  New  Echota.  Pre 
pared  and  issued  by  the  American 
Board,  at  the  expense  of  United 
Brethren. 

"Poor  Sarah,"  (1844.)  Park  Hill. 
Mission  Press.  John  Candy,  print 
er. 

"Tract  on  Temperance,"  written 
by  Boudinot ;  New  Echota.  (1833.) 

"Evil  of  Intoxicating  Liquor,"  2nd 
edition,  Park  Hill  Mission  Press, 
pp.  22.  John  Candy,  printer. 

"Duties  of  the  Marriage  Relation." 
1833- 

"Bob,  the     Sailor    Boy,"     1847; 
pp.   12. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  9 

Tracts,4 'The  Dairyman's  Daughter,"  pp. 
57.  Park  Hill.  Candy  &  Archer 
printer,  1847. 

Present  Crisis  in  the  Condition  of  thz 
American  Indians :  pamphlet. 
2,000  copies  printed  by  Editor  of 
the  Phoenix,  by  order  of  the  Cher 
okee  Council.  Translated  into  the 
Sequoyan  character  from  articles 
in  the  "National  Intelligencer, "a 
paper  printed  at  Washington,  D. 
C.,  under  the  signature  of  "Wm. 
Perm  ;"  English  and  Guess  char 
acter  on  same  page.  1829. 

Records  of  the  Council  of  the  Cherokee 
tribe  of  Indians.  Published  (in 
English)  for  the  Nation.  This 
sheet  contained  a  resolution  au 
thorizing  the  building  of  a  two 
story  Council  House,  and  a  reso 
lution  prohibiting  negotiation  with 
the  Commissioners  from  Georgia 
about  the  sale  of  Cherokee  lands. 
Place  of  publication  unknown. 

Emancipation  Proclamation  of  President 
Abraham  Lincoln.  1862.  Publish 
ed  in  Se-quo-yan  alphabet,  also  in 
English. 


IO  BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Address  by  Elias  Boudinot.  Printed  in 
English,  Philadelphia.  1826.  This 
was  upon  the  progress  of  the 
Cherokee  people. 

Address  on  Temperance,  by  Major  Geo. 
Lowrey,  Assistant  Principal  Chief 
under  the  Constitution  in  1828.  It 
had  an  extended  circulation.  Prin 
ted  in  Sequoyan  alphabet. 

Analysis  of  Cherokee  Language  (in  pre 
paration)  by  Dewit  C.  Duncan, 
Vinita,  Cherokee  Nation.  A  work 
designed  to  perpetuate  the  Chero 
kee  as  a  distinct  language,  the 
medium  of  expression  being  the 
Sequoyan  alphabetical  symbols. 
Part  of  this  work  has  already  re 
ceived  a  favorable  mention  at  the 
Smithsonian  Institute. 

Antiquities  of  the  Cherokee  Indians ; 
compiled  from  the  Collections  of 
Rev.  Daniel  Sabin  Buttrick,  their 
missionary,  from  1817  to  1847,  as 
presented  to  the  *  'Indian  Chief 
tain,"  printed  at  Vinita,  Indian 
Territory,  and  Published  at  the 
suggestion  of  Hon.  Wm.  P.  Ross. 
1884.  PP-  2O-  English. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  II 

Eonegusski,  or  the  Cherokee  Chief.  A 
tale  of  Past  Wars,  by  an  Ameri 
can.  2  vols.  in  one.  pp.  414.  1839. 
Washington. 

Education  among  the  Cherokees,  by  W. 
P.  Ross.  Journal  of  Education. 
vol.  i  :i2o. 

Historical  Caricature  of  the  Cherokee 
Nation.  Lithograph  from  a  sketch 
by  W.  A.  Thompson,  Tahlequah. 
Vivid,  complete  in  detail  and 
abounding  in  the  ludicrous.  Copy 
righted,  1 88  5. 

Speech  of  E.  C.  Boudinot,  a  Cherokee 
Indian,  on  the  Indian  Question, 
Sept.  21,  1871,  at  Vinita,  8  vo., 
pp.  18.  Washington,  1872.  Eng. 

Statement  Respecting  the  Condition  of 
the  Loyal  Cherokee  Indians.  A 
document  prepared  under  the  di 
rection  of  John  Ross,  Principal 
Chief,  under  the  signature  of  Rev. 
Evan  Jones  of  the  Baptist  Mission 
ary  Union.  1863. 

Views  of  a  Native  Indian  as  to  the  Pres 
ent  Condition  of  his  People,  by 
David  Brown,  a  Cherokee.  1825. 


12  BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Articles  of  Faith  of  the  Baptist  Churches. 
Paper  covers,  (recent.)  Printed  in 
Sequoyan  alphabet. 

Methodist  Church  Discipline,  (recent.) 
Printed  in  Sequoyan  alphabet. 

Memoir  of  John  Arch,  a  Cherokee  young 
man.  Mass.  S.  S.  Union.  1832. 
PP-  33'  Missionary  Herald  for 
Nov.  1828 ;  also  one  chapter  in 
Se-quo-yah,  the  American  Cad 
mus,  by  Geo.  E.  Foster,  p.  113. 

Memoir  of  Catherine  Brown,  a  Christian 
Indian  of  the  Cherokee  Nation. 
Boston,  1824.  pp  '144.  Another 
Boston  edition  in  1828.  New  York 
1831,  pp.  138.  Philadelphia,  Pa. 
1831,  pp.  138.  An  edition  was  al 
so  printed  in  Choctaw. 

Travels  through  North  and  South  Caro 
lina,  Georgia,  East  and  West  Flor 
ida,  the  Cherokee  Country,  the 
extensive  Territories  of  the  Mus- 
cogees,  or  Creek  Confederacy, 
and  the  country  of  the  Choctaws, 
together  with  observations  on  the 
manners  of  the  Indian.  Dublin, 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  1 3 

Addresses  of  Indian  Chiefs ;  translated 
into  English  by  David  Brown,  a 
Cherokee.  Missionary  Herald, 
1827,  p.  381. 

Advancement  of  Morals  and  the  Arts  of 
Civilized  Life  among  the  Chero- 
kees.  Letter  of  Rev.  S.  A.  Wor 
cester.  Missionary  Herald,  vol. 
26:153. 

An  Educational  Essay,  by  J.  W.  Ivey. 
Cherokee  Advocate,  vol.  9  :22. 

An  Appeal  in  behalf  of  the  Loyal  Cher- 
okees.  Missionary  Herald  for 
1864  page  100. 

Art  of  Teaching,  by  Jno.  H.  Beck.  Read 
before  the  Teacher's  Institute,  at 
Tahlequah,  Cherokee  Nation, 
June  30,  1885.  Advocate,  vol. 
10  :6. 

Are  Indians  Foreigners  ?  A  letter  from 
Principal  Chief,  D.  W.  Bushy- 
head.  N.  Y.  Sun;  also  in  Chero 
kee  Advocate,  vol.  n  :6. 

Among  the  Eastern  Cherokees,  by  Re 
becca  Harding  Davis.  Harper's 
Magazine,  vol.  61  1532. 


14  BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Among  the  Cherokee  Indians,  by  A. 
M.  Williams.  Lippincott's,  vol. 
27:  195. 

Battle  of  Pea  Ridge,  by  an  Indian  who 
saw  it.  Cherokee  Advocate,  vol. 
10:33. 

Brief  Sketch  of  the  Mission  History 
of  the  Cherokees.  A  discourse 
delivered  at  Vinita,  Ind.  Ter.,  on 
the  dedication  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  there,  March  16,  1884. 
By  Timothy  Hill,  D.  D.  Publish 
ed  in  St.  Louis  Evangelist,  Apr. 
loth,  1884. 

Case  of  the  Cherokee  Nation  against 
the  State  of  Georgia  ;with  an  ap 
pendix,  containing  the  opinions  of 
Chancellor  Kent  on  the  Case  ;  the 
Treaties  between  the  United 
States  and  the  Cherokee  Indians  ; 
the  Act  of  Congress  of  1802,  en 
titled,  "An  Act  to  regulate  inter 
course  with  Indian  Tribes  ;  &c,  ; 
and  the  Laws  of  Georgia  rela 
tive  to  the  country  occupied  b} 
the  Cherokee  Indians  within  the 
boundary  of  that  State.  By  Rich 
ard  Peters.  Philadelphia,  1831. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  15 

Case  of  Cherokee  Indians.  Speeches  on 
the  Passage  of  the  bill  for  the  Re 
moval  of  the  Indians,  delivered  in 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States, 
April  and  May  1830.  pp.  304. 
Boston,  1830. 

Case  of  Cherokee  Indians;  by  A.  H. 
Everett.  North  American  Review, 
vol.  33  1136.  American  Quarterly, 
vol.  ii  :i. — Jeremiah  Evarts,  in 
American  Annual  Register,  vol. 
5  143,  vol.  6  126.  Letter  dated  on 
May  12,  1822.  Concerning  a  vis 
it  through  Cherokee  Country. 
Missionary  '  Herald,  vol.  17. — S. 
C.  Sewell,  Christian  Examiner, 
vol.  9  1107.  Annual  Register,  vol. 
5  1123  ;  vol.7  1364. — Southern  Lit 
erary  Journal,  vol.  i  :227- — Spirit 
of  the  Pilgrims,  vol.  3  1141,  492  : 
vol.  4:292. — Niles  Register,  vol. 
36:40,  370;  37:189;  38:53;  39  : 
68,  81,  197  ;  40:67 — 286;  41  :i74, 
42:24,  40;  43:105-  227,419; 
(removal)  27  1363,  404. 

Cherokee  Advocate.  Missionary  Herald, 
vol.  40.  21  o  ;  editors  of,  see  "Se- 
quo-yah,  American  Cadmus,"  p. 
130." 


l6  BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Cherokee  Phoenix  ;  origin,  first  editorial, 
etc.,  Missionary  Herald,  April, 
1828.  See  Drake's  History  of  the 
North  American  Indians  ;  Geo.  E. 
Foster's  Se-quo-yah. 

Correspondence  relating  to  the  Arrest  of 
the  Missionaries  among  the  Cher- 
okees ;  viz.,  Elisha  W.  Chester, 
S.  A.  Worcester's  Counsel,  Col. 
J.  W.  A.  Sanford ;  also,  Mr.  W's 
reply  to  the  same,  and  a  letter 
from  Mrs.  Fuller,  an  inmate  of 
Mr.  Worcester's  family,  concern 
ing  his  arrest  by  the  Georgia 
Guard.  Missionary  Herald,  vol. 
27.  pp.  322—333. 

Concerning  the  Arrest  and  imprison 
ment  of  the  Missionaries  of  the 
Cherokee  Nation,  by  the  Georgia 
Guard.  Missionary  Herald,  voL 
27:165,  229,  248,  254,  281 — 284: 
332—334'  363- 

Extract  of  a  letter  by  S.  A.  Worcester, 
while  in  Georgia  Penitentiary ; 
published  first  in  the  "Journal  of 
Humanity,  also  Letter  from  Dr. 
Butler  in  same  place.  Missionary 
Herald,  vol.  27  1395. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  17 

Cherokee  Indians,  a  Plea  for,  pp.  8.(?.) 

Constitution  of  the  Cherokees.  Mission 
ary  Herald,  1828.  p.  133. 

Claims  of  the  North  Carolina  Cherokee 
Indians,  pp.  9.  Washington,  D. 
C.  1875- 

Letters  of  Geo.  R.  Oilman,  Governor  of 
Georgia,  to  Messrs.  Worcester, 
Butler,  Proctor  and  Thompson, 
concerning  the  Georgia  difficulties, 
dated  May  16,  1831  :  also  their 
replies  to  the  same.  Missionary 
Herald,  vol.  27.  pp.  249 — 254. 

Letters  of  Win.  Chamberlain,  dated  on 
April  29th,  1831.  Containing  an 
account  of  the  arrest  of  the  Mis 
sionaries  of  the  Georgia  Guard. — 
Missionary  Herald,  vol.  27  1247, 
vol.  25  1119,  374  ;  vol.  28  143,  156, 
191. 

Resolutions  and  Statements  of  the  Mis 
sionaries,  relative  to  the  contem 
plated  plan  for  removing  the 
Cherokee  Indians,  presented  at 
a  meeting  held  at  New  Echota, 
Dec.  29,  1830.  Missionary  Her 
ald,  vol.  xxvii  p.  80. 


l8  BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Correspondence  with  the  Cherokee  and 
Choctaw  Nation,  by  Prudential 
Committee,  A.  B.  Cf.  F.  M.  Miss. 
Herald,  vol.  55  :  350. 

Death  of  Major  George    Lowrey,    once 

Assistant  Principal    Chief,   by   S. 

A.  Worcester,  Missionary  Herald, 

1853- 
Draton's     Talk    to     Cherokee    Indians, 

(I775)>       Dawson's        Historical 

Magazine,  vol.  11  1280. 
Expedition  against  the  Cherokees,  1776, 

by     E.    F.    Rockwell,    Dawson's 

Historical  Magazine,  vol.  12  :2i2. 
Georgia  Cherokee    Controversy,    S.    E. 

Sewell.    Christian  Examiner,  vol. 

9  5107.  —  American  Annual  Regis 

ter,  vol.  6:91.  Southern  Review, 

vol.  2:541.  Nile's    Register,    vol. 

32  189,  108  ;  vol.  37  140,    vol.    40  : 

244. 
History  of  the  Cherokees.       Drake's  In 

dians  of  North  America,  pp.    437 


_ 

Intemperance  in  Schools,  a  paper  read 
before  the  Teacher's  Institute,  by 
Miss  Ada  Archer,  Cherokee  Ad 
vocate,  vol.  10.  No.  9. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  19 

Letters  of  C.  C.  Torrey  concerning 
death  of  Rev.  S.  A.  Worcester. 
Miss.  Herald,  vol.  55  :  350. 

Letter  of  Stephen  Foreman,  a  Cherokee. 
Missionary  Herald,  vol.  25  :  318. 

Letter  from  Mr.  Ellsworth,  Mis.  Herald, 

vol.  25-:  318. 

Letter  from  Rev.  John  Thompson,  Miss. 
Herald,  vol.  25  :  184,  319,  373. 
Vol.  26  :  214. 

Letter  of  Rev.  Mr.  Potter,  Miss.  Herald, 
Aug.  15,  1831,  vol.  27  :  99,  332. 

Letter  of  Rev.  Evan  Jones,  Miss.  Her 
ald,  for  1830. 

Letters  of  Rev.  Dr.  Butler,  Miss.  Her 
ald,  vol.  26:  381  ;  vol.  41  :  240; 
vol.  32  :  186  :  vol.  34  :  136. 

Letter  from  Rev.  John  Allen,  concern 
ing  the  Cherokees,  Missionary 
Herald,  vol.  23  :  378. 

Letter  of  Rev.  S.  A.  Worcester,  vol.  25  : 
253  ;  vol.  37  :  373  ;  vol.  47  :  325  ; 
vol.  51  .'263. 

Tour  of  Rev.  Mr.  Buttrick  among  the 
Cherokees,  with  description  of 
Lookout  Mountain.  Missionary 
Herald,  Jan..  1824,  pages  8  to  15. 


20  BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Letters  of  Rev.  Mr.  Buttrick,  vol.  31  : 
289,  400  ;  vol.  32  :  189. 

Letter  from  Rev.  John  Allen  concerning 
the  Cherokees.  Missionary  Her 
ald,  vol.  23  .'378. 

Letter  from  Rev.  S.  A.  Worcester,  vol. 
25  :  253  ;  vol.  37  .-373  ;  vol.  47  : 
325  ;  vol.  51  1263. 

Catalogues  of  male  and  female  semina 
ries,  usually  printed  at  St.  Louis, 
are  published  annually ;  pages 
about  30.  Full  account  of  man 
agement  and  course  of  study. 
Only  printed  in  English. 

Historical  Discourse,  preached  at  Bap 
tist  church,  Tahlequah,  Nov.  16, 
1884,  by  Rev.  Daniel  Rogers, 
general  missionary  of  the  Baptist 
Home  Missionary  Society  for 
Indian  Territory.  Cherokee  Ad 
vocate,  vol.  9,  no.  27. 

Historical  letter,  by  Rev.  W.  A.  Duncan. 
Cherokee  Advocate,  vol.  n  :  6. 

Institutions  of  the  Cherokees.  American 
Annual,  vol.  12  136.  Legislature 
of  1819.  Niles'  Register,  vol.  37  : 
189. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  21 

Lands  of  the  Cherokees.  Democratic 
Review,  vol.  28  1320. 

Message  of  the  Principal  Chief  of  Cher 
okee  Nation,  1828.  Extract  con 
cerning  the  Press,  Missionary 
Herald.  Dec.  1828. 

Message  of  Principal  Chief  of  Cherokee 
Nation,  1842,  printed  in  both 
English  and  Cherokee.  Edition 
500  each. 

Message  of  Principal  Chief,  1843.  Edi 
tion  500,  both  English  and  Cher 
okee. 

Memorial  of  the  Delegates  of  the  Chero 
kee  Nation  to  the  President  of  the 
United  States  and  Senate,  and 
House  of  Representatives  in  Con 
gress.  Washington  Chronicle 
Print,  1886.  pp.  12.  This  is  a  val 
uable  document,  as  it  contains  a 
record  of  the  War  of  the  Rebel 
lion,  so  far  as  the  Union  Cherokee 
troops  are  concerned,  and  more, 
so  far  as  it  contains  a  copy  of  the 
act  whereby  the  Cherokees  eman 
cipated  their  slaves. 


22.  BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Message.  First  Annual  Message  of  Hon. 
D.  W.  Bushyhead,  Principal  Chief 
of  the  Cherokee  Nation,  delivered 
at  Tahlequah,  C.  N.,  Nov.  i, 

1879.  Pamphlet,  pp.  9. 

2nd    Annual   Message    of    same, 
delivered  at  Tahlequah,    Nov.    3, 

1880.  Pamphlet  and  Broadside. 
3d  Annual  of  same,    delivered    at 
Tahlequah,  Nov.  9,  1881.  Pamph 
let  and  Broadside  from  Advocate. 

4th  Annual  of  same,  delivered  at 
Tahlequah. 

Message.  First  Annual  Message  (Sec 
ond  Term)  of  Hon.  D.  W.  Bushy- 
head,  Principal  Chief  of  Chero 
kee  Nation,  delivered  at  Tahle 
quah,  Nov.  7,  1883.  Pamphlet 
and  Broadside. 

2nd  Annual  as  above,  delivered 
at  Tahlequah,  Nov.  4,  1884, 
Pamphlet,  pp.  25.  Advocate 
print.  This  has  an  appendix  with 
a  statement  showing  the  receipts 
and  disbursements  on  account  of 
sales  of  Cherokee  neutral  lands, 
under  the  lyth  article  of  the  treaty 
July  1 9th,  1886.  Also  a  statement 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  23 

showing  the  receipts  and  disburse 
ments  on  account  ot  the  sales  of 
the  Cherokee  school  lands  in 
Alabama ;  4th  article  of  treaty, 
Feb.  27,  1819.  Also  statement 
concerning  funds  received  from 
the  sale  of  lands  to  Ossages  Paw 
nees,  Poncas,  Nez  Perces,  Ottoes 
and  Missourias  with  a  statement 
of  the  amount  and  character  of 
Cherokee  funds  and  invested  se 
curities  , 

Message.  Seventh  Annual  Message  of 
Hon.  D.  W.  Bushyhead  to  the 
Senate  and  Council  of  the  Chero 
kee  Nation,  pp.  20.  Delivered 

Nov.  4,  1885. 

Fourth  Annual  of  same  (Second 
Term)  delivered  at  Tahlequah, 
Nov.  2nd,  1886.  Advocate  job 
office,  pp.  20. 

The  foregoing  Messages  were  printed   in 
Advocate,  in  English  and  Cherokee. 

Notes  on  Brainerd,  with  an  entertaining 
account  of  early  Cherokees.  Mis 
sionary  Herald,  vol.  19:44,  117, 
169,  341  ;  on  Dwight,  vol.  19:81, 
172.  205. 


24  BIBL1OGRAPY. 

Names  of  Stations,  Missionaries,  Mis 
sionary  Physicians  and  Assistant 
Missionaries,  with  record,  from 
the  establishment  of  Cherokee 
missions  in  1817  to  1840.  Mis 
sionary  Herald,  vol.  36:28-30. 

Origin  of  the  first  Cherokee  Hymn,  by 
George  E.  Foster.  Woman's 
Magazine.  Cherokee  Advocate, 
vol.  10,  no.  5. 

Our  Cherokee  Sisters,  by  George  E. 
Foster.  Woman's  Magazine, 
Brattleboro,  Vt. 

Opinion  of  Court — U.  S.  Court  of  Claims, 
Eastern  Band  of  Cherokees,  vs.  U. 
S.  and  Cherokee  Nation.  Chero 
kee  Advocate,  vol.  10  .'4,  ten  col 
umns. 

Relative  Importance  of  Branches  taught 
in  the  schools.  J.  L.  Taft.  Read 
before  Cherokee  Teachers'  Insti 
tute,  June  30,  1886.  Cherokee 
Advocate. 

Responsibility  of  the  Teacher,  by  Miss 
Flora  Ingram.  Cherokee  Advo- 

o 

cate,  vol.  10,  no.  6. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  25 

Report  on  Slavery  among  the  Cherokees 
and  Choctaws,  by  Selah  B.  Treat. 
1848.  Missionary  Herald,  vol.  44. 

Report  of  Missions  of  the  United  Breth 
ren  for  1822  ;  8  pages  ;  Dublin. 
Contains  much  about  the  Chero 
kees.  See  also  Holmes'  Mora 
vian  Missions,  London,  1827  ; 
page  206.  Missionary  Herald,  vol. 
20:  296,  329. 

Speech  of  Chief,  D.  W.  Bushy  head,  de 
livered  to  the  assemblage  at  Tah- 
lequah,  Aug.  8th,  1886,  on  the 
death  of  General  U.S.  Grant. 
Cherokee  Advocate,  vol.  10:12 
Letter  on  the  same  by  sam.e.  vol. 
10  :n. 

Supreme  Court  of  the  U.  S. — Eastern 
Band  of  Cherokee  Indians,  vs  U. 
S.  and  the  Cherokee  Nation,  com 
monly  called  the  Cherokee  Na- 
.tion,  West.  Appeal  from  Court  of 
Claims  Cherokee  Advocate,  vol. 
10:45;  46:47. 

Schools  among  the  Cherokees.  Dennie's 
Portfolio,  vol.  26  158.  Consult  also 
all  of  the  Missionary  Heralds  pre 
vious  to  1 86 1 . 


26  BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Se-quo-yah,  a  Cherokee  Half-breed, by 
W.  A.  Phillips.  Harper's  Maga 
zine.  Vol.  41  042. 
An  account  of  his  life  and  inven 
tion.  Missionary  Herald,  Vol.  24  : 
30.  Copied  from  Cherokee  Phoe 
nix.  See,  also,  Knapp's  Lectures 
on  American  Literature. 

Sequoyah  and  his  People,  an  oration  by 
W.  A.  Thompson,  a  Cherokee. 
Published  in  Cherokee  Advocate, 
June  30, 1886. 

Sequoyah,  the  American  Cadmus  and 
Modern  Moses,  a  complete  history 
of  the  greatest  of  red  men,  around 
whose  wonderful  life  has  been 
woven  the  numerous  customs  and 
beliefs  of  the  early  Cherokees, 
together  with  a  recital  of  their 
wrongs,  and  their  wonderful 
progress  toward  civilization,  by 
George  E.  Foster,  editor  of  Mil- 
ford,  N.  H.  Enterprise,  pp.  265. 
Philadelphia,  1884. 

•Temperance  among  the  Cherokees  ;  an 
historical  record.  See  Cherokee 
Advocate  ;  vol.  n  143. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  2y 

Success     of  Cherokee  Indian  Missions, 
by  Selah  Treat.   Missionary  Her 
ald,  vol.  47  1310.  313. 
Cherokee  Mission  and  Alabama, 
by  P.  H.  White.    Congregational 
Quarterly,  vol.  3  .'279. 
General     Remarks  on  Cherokee 
missions.       Missionary       Herald, 
1825. 

Socrates,  an  original  essay  by  Mamie 
Aciair  of  the  Cherokee  Nation. 
read  at  the  Commencement  exer 
cises  of  Kirkwood,  Mo.  Female 
Seminary,  class  of  1884.  Chero 
kee  Advocate,  vol.  9  .'9. 

The  Indian  notLo.  W.  A.  Duncan,  Ad 
vocate,  vol.  9  143. 

The  Mormon  Question,  discussions  by 
W.  A.  Duncan  and  others,  in  the 
Advocate,  1887. 

Things  as  they  Are,  by  Rev.  W.  A. 
Duncan,  of  Park  Hill. — Advocate 
vol.  9:33. 

The  great  Question,  Are  the  Ifive  Civil 
ized  Tribes  prepared  to  dissolve 
their  Nationality?  by  Rev.  A.  N. 
Chamberlin.  Advocate  vol.  9:45. 


28  BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

The  Preservation  of  the  Cherokee  and 
other  Indians,  a  special  Report 
by  S  el  ah  B.  Treat.  Missionary 
Herald,  Nov.,  1853. 

Traditions  of  the  Cherokees.  Selections 
from  Phoenix,  Missionary  Herald, 
vol.  xxv  '.197. 

The  Lands  West  of  96  degrees — Terri 
torial  Government  of  Oklahoma, 
etc.,  vol.  10:48,  49,  of  Cherokee 
Advocate. 

United  States,  vs.  Rogers  on  Petition  for 
Removal,  and  Habeas  Corpus. 
Opinion  of  Judge  Parker,  Chero 
kee  Advocate,  vol.  9:52. 


THE  CHEROKEES. 


THE      GENESIS. 

What  we  accept  as  the  genesis  of  any 
people  is  simply  traditionary.  The  le 
gends  and  traditions  of  all  nations  resem 
ble  each  other  in  so  many  points,  that 
they  are  often  compared  for  the  purpose 
of  proving  the  common  origin  of  man. 

The  water  legends  especially  bear  a 
close  resemblance  to  each  other.  The 
myths  and  histories  of  the  ancient  nations 
are  full  of  reminders  of  a  deluge.  In  ev 
ery  region  and  every  clime  on  the  globe 
the  historian  meets  with  traces  or  tradi 
tions  of  the  flood  and  the  favored  few. 


2  THE  GENESIS. 

The  Cherokee  traditions,  as  a  whole, 
come  down  to  us  more  clearly  defined 
and  consistent  than  those  ot  any  other 
Aborigines  tribe  of  America.  Still  there 
are  omissions,  contradictions  and  suspi 
cious  evidences  of  borrowing.  But  here 
the  tradition  : — 

In  the  time  NU-TA-TE-QUA,  or  the  first 
new  moon  of  Autumn,  U-HA-LI-TE-QUA, 
the  great-great,  or  the  head  of  all  power, 
great  beyond  expression,  having  also 
A-xa-NO-Ti.  and  U-sqA-Hu-LA,  two  oth 
er  beings  of  like  sentiment  and  action, 
in  the  Great  Council  House  above  the 
gilt-edged  clouds  beyond  the  mountains, 
sat  on  three  seats,  which  were  covered 
with  the  purest  white  fur,  and  surround 
ed  with  trusty  spirits.  *These  three  were 
the  proprietors  of  all  things  that  then 

*There  is  no  explanation  in  Cherokee  traditions 
telling  how  U-ha-li-te-qua  came  to  exist,  nor  is 
there  any  account  of  the  origin  of  A-to-no-ti  or 
U-sqa-hu-la  or  the  ministering  spirits.  As  it  is  sta 
ted  that  thejr  were  "the  proprietors  of  all  things 
that  then  were"  it  is  probable  that  they  believed  in 
multiplicity  of  worlds. 


THE    GENESIS.  3 

were,  for  all  that  then  was  by  them  had 
been  constructed.  They  were  indeed  the 
great-great,  for  when  U-ha-li-te-qua, 
A-ta-no-ti  and  U-sqa-hu-la  said  "live", 
life  came  ;  when  they  said  "die",  death 
followed. 

But  at  this  time,  they  were  discussing 
where  to  fix  their  permanent  abode  and 
they  concluded  to  first  finish  their  work 
of  creation.  The  first  firmament  which 
they  created  was  some  higher  than  a 
mountain,  but  it  proved  too  narrow  and 
too  warm  and  not  high  enough  to  behold 
all  their  subjects.  Then  U-ha-li-te-qua, 
A-ta-no-ti  and  U-sqa-hu-la  built  a  second 
firmament  that  also  proved  too  small  and 
warm  but  as  it  proved  more  comfortable 
than  the  first,  they  decided  to  keep  on 
building  firmaments  until  they  should 
find  one  just  right.  They  did  so,  and  in 
the  seventh*  they  decided  to  make  their 
home.  Then  U-ha-li-te-qua,  A-ta-no-ti, 
and  U-sqa-hu-la  became  absorbed  into 

*For  much  information  concerning  the  Cherokee 
"Seven,"  see  the  Author's  SE-QUO-YAH. 


4  THE  GENESIS. 

one  being  as  they  had  been  before  in 
sentiment  and  action. 

This  being  was  called  YE-HO-WA. 

The  early  Cherokees  believed  him  to 
be  both  m  an  and  Spirit,  a  very  glorious 
being,  whose  name  was  never  to  be  spo 
ken  in  common  talk.  To  him  bowing 
toward  the  East  they  addressed  their 
prayers,  just  before  the  rising  sun. 

Within  the  first  firmament,  Ye-ho-wa 
created  the  earth  and  in  it  he  made  a 
beautiful  garden.  And  it  came  to  pass 
that  Ye-ho-wa  and  his  son — for  the  earli 
est  Cherokees  say  he  had  a  son — decided 
to  people  the  earth,  and  the  time  was  Nu- 
ta-te-qua  or  Autumn,  when  the  fruits 
were  all  ripe.* 

Then  Ye-ho-wa  sent  his  son  to  man 
age  the  affairs  of  earth,  and  he  descend 
ed  to  the  garden  and  made  two  images 
out  of  clay,  and  when  he  had  completed 

*This  mention  of  man  not  being  created  until  the 
fruits  were  all  ripe  was  a  pretty  conception  of  rhe 
early  Cherokee,  showing  the  thoughtful  foresight 
of  Ye-ho-wa  in  providing  food  for  the  newly  created 


THE  GENESIS.  5 

them,  his  father,  Ye-ho-wa,  breathed  into 
the  bodies,  a  soul,  heart  and  inwards, 
and  one  became  a  male  and  the  other  a 
female.  The  clay  of  which  they  were 
made  was  red ;  hence  this  man  and  wo 
man  were  the  progenitors  of  the  red  race. 
When  Ye-ho-wa  breathed  into  the 
bodies  the  breath  of  life,  it  was  his  inten 
tion  that  man  should  be  immortal,  but 
he  was  deprived  of  this  boon  by  a  young 
Cherokee  woman.*  How  immortality 
was  lost  is  thus  related.  Some  moons 
after  mankind  was  created,  a  young  wo 
man  was  bitten  by  a  serpent  and  her  spir 
it  fled  from  her  body.  The  people  were 

*Thus  it  seems  that  the  early  Cherokee  laid  their 
misfortune  at  woman's  door  as  did  the  Genesis.  It 
was  firmly  believed  by  savage  tribes  that  women 
had  no  souls  and  consequently  no  place  in  heaven. 
Later  the  place  allotted  to  woman  in  heaven  was  a 
menial  one.  It  was  the  universal  custom  among 
savage  nations,  when  a  chieftain  died  to  slay  the 
wives  and  servants,  that  their  ghosts  might  accom 
pany  him  to  Paradise.  The  Cherokees  seem  to 
have  been  the  first  of  our  Aborigines  nations  to  ac 
knowledge  the  rights  of  women  and  they  are  lead- 
ers  in  that  virtue  to-dav. 


O  THE  GENESIS. 

told  that  if  they  could  get  her  spirit 
back  to  her  body,  that  her  body  would 
live  again  and  general  mortality  would 
be  averted.  Some  young  braves  there 
upon  procured  a  box  and  started  in  pur 
suit.  The  trail  led  past  rocky  fastnesses, 
up  shady  dells,  through  forests  dark  and 
across  green  meadows  to  a  silvery  river. 
Here  they  caught  up  with  her  spirit  as 
it  was  dancing  gaily  in  the  sunlight,  like 
a  gold  winged  butterfly  over  a  garden  of 
flowers.  They  captured  her  spirit  at  last 
and  shut  it  into  a  box  so  dark  that  she 
pleaded  for  light.  But  they  hurried  on 
until  they  reached  a  point  near  where  the 
body  was,  when  on  account  of  her  pecu 
liar  urgency,  they  removed  the  lid  a  very 
little,  and  out  flew  the  spirit  and  was 
gone — and  with  it  all  hope  of  immortality. 
It  is  related  that  Ye-ho-wa,  before  re 
tiring  for  good  into  the  seventh  heaven, 
instructed  the  people  concerning  the  prac 
tical  affairs  of  life,  and  unfolded  to  them 
the  mysteries  of  the  magic  seven.  He 
told  them  that  it  took  seven  days  to  build 
the  world;  if  they  worked  on  that  day, 


THE   GENESIS.  7 

they  or  some  of  their  relatives  would  die; 
that  there  were  seven  heavens;  that  in  their 
prayers  they  must  raise  their  hands  to  the 
first,  second,  third,  fourth,  fifth,  sixth  and 
seventh  heaven,  and  then  express  their  de 
sire  to  the  Great  Spirit  who  dwelt  there. 
He  gave  them  a  prayer  to  be  sung  every 
seventh  morning.  A  little  before  morning 
or  about  daybreak  they  were  to  plunge 
seven  times  into  a  stream.  On  the  day  of 
the  feast,  the  food  was  to  be  brought  by 
twice  seven  women:  seven  of  whom  were 
to  provide  for  the  men  and  seven  for  the 
women;  that  the  nation  should  be  divided 
into  seven  clans;  and  these  clans  should 
fast  every  seventh  day.* 

Ye-ho-wa,  afterward  called  the  Great 
Spirit,  directed  them  not  to  use  vulgar  lan- 

*  The  seven  clans  are  seven  families,  each  from 
its  own  original  stock,  and  therefore  too  nearly  re 
lated  to  admit  of  intermarriages.  The  names  of 
these  seven  clans  are  as  follows:  i.  Ani-wa-ya,  or 
Wolf  clan;  2.  Ani-ko-ta-ke-wi,  or  Blind  Savannah 
clan;  3.  Ani-wo-ti  or  Paint  clan;  4.  Ani-qui-lo-hi,  or 
Longhair  clan  ;  5.  Ani-tsis-qua,  or  Bird  clan  ;  6- 
Ani-ka-wi,  or  Deer  clan;  Ani-stasti,  or  Holley 
clan.]— SHIELD  EATER. 


8  THE  GENESIS. 

guage,  and  not  to  tell  a  lie*  as  these  things 
were  considered  wicked. 

He  then  gave  the  redman  a  bow  and 
arrow  and  taught  him  how  to  use  it;  he 
gave  him  also  a  book  and  told  the  rodrnan 
to  write  in  it,  but  the  red  man  simply 
made  marks,  as  he  could  not  read;  this 
book  he  finally  took  away  from  the  red 
man  and  gave  it  to  the  white  race.  Hav 
ing  given  his  instruction,  Ye-ho-wa  left 
Wasi  as  a  teacher  and  he  appeared  no 
more  on  earth.  fWasi  was  a  Prophet  and 
foretold  events.  He  told  them  of  an 
approaching  flood  by  which  the  world 
would  be  drowned,  also  of  a  shower  of 
pitch,  which  would  be  followed  by  a 
shower  of  fire.  He  also  laid  down  the 

*It  was  made  a  criminal  act  by  the  Cherokee 
Council  in  1824  to  give  false  evidence  in  court,  the 
punishment  being  thirty-nine  lashes. 

fWasi  seems  to  correspond  with  Moses  of  the 
Genesis.  Indeed  the  Butrick  Collections,  many  of 
them  can  hardly  be  relied  upon  as  genuine  Chero 
kee.  It  is  only  too  evident  that  many  legends  were 
borrowed  from  the  earlier  missionaries,  especially 
v  from  the  Moravians,  who  had  been  among  the 
Cherokees  as  early  as  1740. 


THE   GENESIS.  9 

rules  of  the  feast  and  left  instruction  for 
making  sacrifice.  The  early  priests  offer 
ed  sacrifice  with  new  fire,  having  a  rack 
two  or  three  feet  high  for  an  altar.  "The 
sacred  character  of  fire  w  as  impressed 
very  widely  and  deeply  on  the  Indian 
manners  and  customs.  Fire  in  their  minds 
was  regarded  in  some  manner  as  we 
should  view  the  opening  of  a  door  into 
the  spiritual  world  .  It  is  believed  that  its 
symbolical  light  is  thus  thrown  on  the 
path  of  the  deceased  to  guide  the  foot 
steps  through  its  darkling  way  to  the  land 
of  the  dead.  That  the  procurement  of 
sacred  fire  by  percussion,  the  ceremony 
of  lighting  the  pipe  and  the  incineration 
of  tobacco  therein  and  its  being  first  lifted 
toward  the  sun,  prefigured  the  beliefs  in 
ancient  fire-worship,  is  more  than  proba 
ble"* 

*The  new  fire  was  made  by  friction ;  like  the 
original  holy  fire  it  must  not  be  used  for  common 
purposes,  except  when  made  especially  to  supply 
the  Nation  with  fire.  No  torch  must  be  lighted  by 
it,  nor  a  coal  taken  from  it  for  common  use.  When 
the  ceremonies  were  over  it  was  given  to  some  one 
to  keep.] — SHIELD  EATER. 


IO  THE  GENESIS. 

The  seventh  day  was  the  Priest's  day. 
They  assembled  all  the  people  at  an  ear 
ly  hour.  Ko-tis-ki  gives  an  account  of 
this  feast  as  follows  : — 

"No  work  was  done  except  by  women, 
who  brought  forward  the  food.  The  old 
men  smoke  and  the  young  men  occasion 
ally  dance  before  them.  At  usual  break 
fast  time,  the  victuals  were  brought  by 
fourteen  women  previously  appointed, 
seven  to  wait  on  men  and  seven  for  wo 
men.  The  priests  sat  on  their  appropri 
ate  white  seats  ;  other  old  men  sat  on  the 
seats  near  the  middle  of  the  house  ;  other 
men  and  boys  on  seats  to  the  right  and 
the  women  and  girls  to  the  left.  The 
victuals  were  set  on  the  ground  in  dishes, 
before  the  several  seats,  and  then  the 
waiting  women  took  their  seats  with  the 
other  females.  The  priests  then  arose 
and  told  the  people  that  the  Creator  had 
given  them  food,  and  by  partaking  of  it 
they  would  be  refreshed,  and  then  told 
them  to  eat.  The  repast  being  ended, 
the  fourteen  women  took  away  the  dishes. 


THE  GENESIS.  II 

The  leader  of  the  dances  was  then  called 
forward.  He  arranged  the  company  in 
single  file  :  the  leader  followed  by  his 
wife,  the  next  principal  man  and  his 
wife,  and  so  on,  a  man  and  his  wife  ;  or, 
if  a  man  had  no  wife,  he  was  followed 
by  a  single  relative  who  was  a  near  rela 
tive  or  of  the  same  clan.  This  arrange 
ment  might  form  a  number  of  circles  in 
the  wigwam.  Being  thus  arranged, 
while  standing,  the  congregation  was 
addressed  by  tour  priests  successively. 
They  occupied  the  white  middle  seat. 
The  eldest  arose  and  spoke,  holding  a 
white  wing  of  a  fowl,  by  the  right  side  of 
his  face.  Together  and  with  other  in 
structions,  he  charged  the  people  to  love 
and  be  kind  to  each  other.  On  conclud 
ing,  the  first  took  his  seat  and  handed 
the  white  wing  to  the  one  next  to  him, 
and  so  on  until  all  four  had  spoken.  The 
white  wing  was  then  hung  in  a  sacred 
place  over  their  heads.  The  dance  then 
commenced.  Toward  evening,  all  being 
again  seated,  the  same  women  who  had 


12  THE  GENESIS. 

provided  breakfast  now  brought  forward 
dinner  or  supper,  which  was  served  as 
in  the  morning  ;  and  the  night  was  wholly 
spent  in  dancing.  None  must  sleep  ex 
cept  the  children  ;  after  breakfast  all  re 
turned  to  their  homes." 

All  were  Indians,  or  red  people  before 
the  flood,  said  Nutsawi.  They  were 
taught  that  the  people,  after  death,  would 
be  separated,  the  good  from  the  bad. 
The  good  would  take  a  path  which  would 
lead  them  to  the  happy  hunting  ground, 
where  it  would  be  always  light ;  but  the 
bad  would  be  urged  along  another  path, 
which  lead  to  a  deep  gulf,  over  which 
lay  a  pole  with  a  dog  at  each  end.  They 
would  be  urged  onto  this  pole,  and  the 
dogs,  by  moving  it,  would  throw  them 
off  into  the  gulf  of  fire  beneath.  If  they 
ever  got  over  they  would  be  transfixed 
with  red  hot  bars  of  iron,  and  thus  would 
be  tormented  forever. 


SE-QUOYAH, 

THE    AMERICAN      CADMUS. 


BY   GEO.    E.   FOSTER. 

Editor   of  the  Milford,  N.    H.  Enterprise. 

Price  $1.50,  Postpaid. 


A  graphic  Biography  of  an  Unlearned 
Savage,  who  invented  an  Alphabet,  and 
thus  started  the  Cherokee  People  forward 
toward  their  present  high  state  of  civiliz 
ation,  and,  though  himself  unlearned,  he 
becomes  the  "Father  of  Learning"  to  his 
People. 

Interesting  as  a  novel  it  is  entirely  de 
void  of  the  harmfulness  of  dime  novel  In 
dian  literature  and  is  a  pleasant  book  for 
all  who  make  up  the  fireside  circle. 

Replete  in  facts  hitherto  ungarnered, 
it  is  a  valuable  work  for  Public  Libraries 
and  should  be  read  by  all  students  of 
American  History, 


PRESS     NOTICES. 


A  very  interesting  volume. — Lowell  Mail. 

A  delightful  book.  —  Charleston  (S.  C.)  Neivs. 

Healthful  as  well  as  helpful. — New  York  Union. 

A  book  of  much  merit. — Nerv  Hampshire   Jour 
nal. 

More    interesting     than    a     romance. —  Woman's 
Magazine. 

Ought  to    be  extensively  read. — Salem    (Mass.) 
Register. 

A  well  written  biography,  worthy  of  attention. — 
Boston  Herald. 

This  volume  will  be  found  full  of  interest. — Hart 
ford  Courant, 

A  pleasant  book  for  the  fireside  circle. — Independ 
ent -and  Times. 

A  work  that  every  one  ought  to   have  at  hand. — 
Cherokee  Advocate. 

A  splendid  story  of   Cherokee    history. — Phoenix, 
Creek  Nation. 

One  of  the  most   valuable   works    recently   pub 
lished. — Nashua  Gazette. 

Interesting  from  first  page  to  the  last. — Magazine 
of  American  History. 

Not  easily    laid    aside    after    the   work  has    been 
opened. — Peterboro  Transcript. 

Will  have  an  important    place    among   American 
historical  books. — Boston  Globe. 

A  mass    of  valuable    information     collated    wi;h 
great  care. — Lowell  (Mass.)    Times. 

We  are  very  proud  to  give  this  book   a   place   in 
our  library. —  San  Joaquin  (C«/.)  Argus. 


The  author  should  be  encouraged  to  publish  other 
C  herokee  works. — Indian  Chieftain. 

Mr.  Foster  has  conferred  a  great  favor  to  the  gen 
eral  cause  of  history. —  Golden  Cross  Journal. 

Will  be  read  with  interest  bv  every  lover  of  the 
strange  and  eventful. — Keene  {N.  //.)  Observer. 

Will  do  much  to  counteract  the  pernicious  effect 
of  dime  novel  literature. — Amherst,  N.  U.  Cabinet. 

As  interesting  as  Robinson  Crusoe,  and  at  the 
same  time  as  true  as  the  Bible. — Garden  City  her 
ald. 

Is  quite  unique  and  shows  praiseworthy  diligence 
on  the  part  of  the  author. — Junction  Journal,  Ayer, 
Mass. 

The  work  is  timely,  and  throws  a  flood  of  light 
upon  the  capacity  of  the  red  race. — Manchester 
Daily  Union. 

Worthy  the  careful  attention  of  the  American 
historians  as  well  as  the  general  reader. — Boston 
Transcript. 

Mr.  Foster's  publications  have  done  much  to 
awaken  a  kindly  interest  toward  our  people.  —  7 he 
Chieftain,  Vinita,  Indian  Territory. 

The  work  certainly  is  a  very  commendable    one. 
Mr.  Foster  is  an   earnest  and    enthusiastic  friend  of 
Indians.  —  The  American,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

As  one  reads  this  lively  story  of  Cherokee  pro 
gress,  he  is  vividly  impressed  that  there  can  be  a 
high  type  of  Indian  civilization — Ithaca  (N.  Y.) 
Journal* 

The  author  is  to  be  commended  for  his  painstaking 
fidelity  in  making  this  contribution  to  an  interesting 
department  of  American  history.—  The  Watchman, 
(Boston.) 


The  author  has  a  happy  faculty  of  making  his 
historical  facts  tread  closely  on  the  borders  of  ro 
mance,  rendering  the  book  quite  captivating. — Ghat- 
anooga,  (Tenn,)  Times. 

Certain  it  is  that  on  laying  aside  the  book  we  feel 
underobligation  to  Mr.  Foster  for  the  conscientious 
work  he  has  performed,  in  an  endeavor  to  enlighten 
his  countrymen  on  a  subject  that  they  know  little  or 
nothing  about,  and  that  little  all  on  the  wrong  side. 
— Nashua  Telegraph. 


From   Personal  Letters. 

"I  know  sufficient  of  its  purport  and  value  per  se 
and  of  its  unique  relations  in  literature  to  believe 
in  it  and  to  accept  its  success  without  surprise." 
— [Prof.  S.  J.  Blanpied,  Principal  of  the  Millbury 
(Mass)  High  School. 

"I  have  read  Se-quo-yah  with  much  interest  and 
profit.  It  is  a  valuable  addition  to  the  literature  of 
the  Indian  question,  and  upon  the  side  which  has 
hitherto  had  altogether  too  few  advocates.  I  assure 
you,  I  can  conscientiously  speak  a  good  word  for  it 
when  opportunity  occurs." — [Hon.  Martin  Haynes, 
Congressman  from  First  New  Hampshire  District. 

"I  have  read  Se-quo-yah  with  much  pleasure  and 
interest  and  have  recommended  it  to  the  City  Li 
brarian." —  [Wm.  B.  Morgan,  Prof,  of  Mathematics, 
Elclham  College,  Richmond,  Indiana. 

"I  congratulate  you  upon  the  success  you  have 
hg'd  in  preserving  the  memory  and  spreading  the 
renown  of  the  Indian  Cadmus.'' — [Ex.  U.  S.  Sena 
tor,  Bainbridge  VVadleigh. 

'•The  American  Nation  as  well  the  Nation  Cher 
okee  owe  you  a  debt  of  gratitude." — [Abby  (Hutch- 
inson)  Patton. 

"I  have  looked  upon  you  as  in  a  measure  "God- 
sent"  for  through  vou  I  became  interested  in  the 
Indian  cause."— [Esther  T.  Housh,  editor  of  the 
Woman's  Magazine  • 

"I  have  read  your  book  on  Se-quo-\ah  with  much 
interest  and  pleasure.  You  have  made  an  ad 
dition  to  the  literature  of  American  biography,  t 
congratulate  you  on  the  result  of  your  work." — [Dr. 
S  A.  Green,  Librarian  of  Massachusetts  Historical 
Society. 


EXECUTIVE     DEPARTMENT, 

CHEROKEE   NATION,    IND.    TER 

Tahlequah,    Jan'y  2oth     iS36. 
Mr.    George  E.  Foster, 

Milford,  N.    H. 
Dear  Sir : — 

I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  to  you,  a  certified 
Copy  of  the  Joint  Resolution,  which  passed  the 
Senate  without  any  opposition,  and  would  doubt 
less  have  passed  the  lower  house  had  there  not 
been  so  much  business  ahead  of  it  that  it  was  not 
reached.  I  may  assure  you  that  I  would  have  ap 
proved  it,  if  there  had  been  time  to  pass  it.  Hoping 
that  success  will  attend  all  your  literary  ventures, 
I  am  very  Respectfully 

D.  VV.  BUSHYHEAD. 

PRINCIPAL  CHIEF. 


[Copy] 

Whereas^  The  National  Council  has  been  pre 
sented  with  the  life  of  Se-quo-vah,  our  Cadmus — the 
inventor  of  the  Cherokee  Alphabet,  written  by 
George  E.  Foster,  and,  whereas,  if  there  is  one 
man  more  than  any  otKer  whose  memory  and  his 
tory  should  be  cherished  by  a  Nation — if  there 
is  a  single  individual  on  whom  a  nation  can  look 
as  a  benefactor,  it  is  certainly  Se-quo-yah. 

Now  therefore  be  it  resolved  by  the  National 
Council  : 

That  we  hareby  extend  to  George  E.  Foster, 
the  author,  our  sincere  gratitude  for  his  effort  to 
preserve  the  history  of  our  greatest  man ;  for  his 
effort  to  keep  alive  in  the  minds  of  the  American 
people  that  there  is  something  good  and  great 
in  the  American  Indian. 

Dec.  5th.  1885. 
R.  T.  HANKS,  Clerk. 

L    0.  BELL,  Pr^'t  Senate. 


EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT, 

CHEROKEE  NATION. 

1  hereby  certify  that  the  foregoing  is  a  true  copy 
of  a  Resolution,  which  was  presented  in  and  pass* 
ed  the  Senate  on  the  last  day  day  of  the  Regular 
Session  of  the  National  Council  for  the  year  1885, 
and  was  sent  thence  to  the  Council  Branch  of  the 
said  Council  for  the  action  of  said  Branch,  but  was 
not  reached  before  adjournment  "sine  die." 

In  witness  of  the   correctness    of  which  Joint  Res~ 

{, — ' — .  I  olution,  I  hereby  sign  my  r.ame,  and  affix 
L.  S.   >  the  Seal  of  the  Cherokee  Nation  on   this 
^ — <—>  )  2Oth  clay  of  January  1886. 
W.  P  BOUDINOT, 

Executive  Secretary,  C.  N. 


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